Financial close reached on Saskatchewan’s largest school-build ever
By STAFF REPORT
Construction Infrastructure LEED P3s Risk Management18 elementary schools, 9 joint-use sites part of deal
The Saskatchewan government has reached financial close with Joint-Use Mutual Partnership (JUMP) to build and maintain18 elementary schools and nine joint-use facilities using a P3 model.
The new schools will include 810 new child care spaces as well as new community space. In September 2017, thousands of Saskatchewan elementary students will be learning in these new schools being constructed on nine joint-use sites in Martensville, Regina, Saskatoon and Warman. These publicly owned schools are being built using a public private partnership model to accommodate the unprecedented growth taking place in these communities.
“These schools will stay in better condition, be finished faster, and cost millions less than if the government did this project without a public-private partnership,” SaskBuilds Minister Gordon Wyant said yesterday.
“I know that students, parents and teachers will benefit from these schools for many years to come,” Education Minister Don Morgan said. “Not only does this investment provide for 18 new state-of-the-art schools, it also ensures that these facilities are maintained in a like-new condition for the next 30 years.” In total, the government will invest $635 million in today’s dollars over the life of the contract, which includes:
- Construction-related costs;
- Cost of maintenance over 30 years; and
- Cost of rehabilitation to keep the schools in like-new condition.
Joint-Use Mutual Partnership was competitively selected to deliver the schools. The consortium that operates as one team includes: pension fund Concert Infrastructure Ltd., Bird Capital Limited Partnerships, Bird Design-Build Construction Inc., GEC Architecture, along with Wright Construction Western Inc., Kindrachuck Agrey Architecture, and Johnson Controls Canada LP, which all have offices in Saskatchewan.
The contract’s financial details will be disclosed in a value for money assessment report that will be released along with the project documents at the earliest opportunity in keeping with Canadian best practice.
Construction on the publicly owned and operated schools will be complete before September 2017.
