The head of the Canada Infrastructure Bank clashed with members of Parliament at a committee hearing on Tuesday about whether the federal financing agency was living up to its mandate of generating private-sector funding for its investments.
In response to questioning from Conservative MP Andrew Scheer, CIB chief executive Ehren Cory defended the organization by pointing to the involvement of what he called non-governmental investors in certain projects, such as Alberta irrigation districts for irrigation infrastructure in the province.
“I’m not willing to concede that that’s a private-sector entity,” Scheer said. “Where are the independent, private-sector hedge funds, the private-sector mutual funds, the private-sector banks, the private-sector capital that you promised, that this government promised?”
The exchange came on the heels of a report from Parliament’s budget watchdog that said the four-year-old infrastructure bank has yet to meet its mandate of pulling in private dollars for major projects.
The Trudeau Liberals created the infrastructure agency in 2017 to use $35 billion in federal financing to pull in two or three times that in private dollars.
What the Liberals wanted was to finance projects that would generate revenue, meaning there could be a return to investors, to free up grant money for other work.
Parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux wrote in a report released Tuesday that the Canada Infrastructure Bank has committed just over $4 billion for projects, or about 11.5 per cent of its spending envelope, but none involve funding from private investors.
Instead, the money from the bank is coming from other public-sector entities like municipal and provincial governments, as well as the Quebec pension plan.
Nor is it clear that private dollars are involved in any of the remaining 13 projects in which the agency is participating, Giroux wrote.
The PBO report says eight of the 13 projects have yet to announce a financial commitment and are currently under either a memorandum of understanding, in a project acceleration phase or receiving advisory services.
“Of the projects for which contracts have been signed, there is no evidence that any private investment has been leveraged,” Giroux wrote in the report.
“CIB’s two current projects are exclusively funded by federal, provincial, and municipal levels of government.”
At the committee meeting Tuesday, Cory disputed the report’s conclusion about private investment, arguing, for example, that the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, which has invested in Montreal’s electric-rail system, is funded through the contributions of private individuals and not by a government entity.
The Réseau express métropolitain, better known by its acronym REM, and an expansion of the GO Transit network in the Toronto area comprise most of the announced capital investment at the CIB at $1.28 billion and $2 billion, respectively, the PBO report says.
A spokesman for the CIB, Felix Corriveau, said Tuesday that the agency is expecting a flurry of new investments, which could potentially involve private and institutional investors like building owners and broadband internet service providers.
“We believe eight additional projects can be approved and announced in the coming months,” Corriveau said.
Cory’s appointment was one of several the Liberals have made over the last six months after years of criticism that the bank was too slow to approve financing, and projects too marginal to lure big investors.
The government has redone the marching orders for the agency to get shovels in the ground, trying to stimulate the economy out of the pandemic.
In a recent interview with The Canadian Press, Cory said the agency had a short runway to prove its worth — a nod to the political spotlight the agency is under.
The Conservatives and New Democrats have previously promised to dismantle the agency if elected to govern.
Cory said internal changes at the agency to speed up reviews should put the bank on pace by the summer to have made 10 or so investments, he said, with a value of about $2.5 billion in CIB capital, and $6 billion in total project value.
Giroux’s report notes that the CIB has received 420 project proposals, but four-fifths have been rejected or are no longer under active consideration.
Nearly half of those rejected fell outside the agency’s mandate, the PBO report says, largely because they either were in an ineligible sector, were insufficient in size, or lacked scalability.
The remaining rejected projects passed the agency’s initial screening criteria, but were removed from consideration or are no longer under active consideration, the PBO said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2021.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.
The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was little changed in late-morning trading as the financial sector fell, but energy and base metal stocks moved higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.05 of a point at 24,224.95.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 94.31 points at 42,417.69. The S&P 500 index was down 10.91 points at 5,781.13, while the Nasdaq composite was down 29.59 points at 18,262.03.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.71 cents US compared with 73.05 cents US on Wednesday.
The November crude oil contract was up US$1.69 at US$74.93 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was up a penny at US$2.67 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$14.70 at US$2,640.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up two cents at US$4.42 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.
