Attractive interest rates and strengthening balance sheets are helping five Canadian cities realize their long-held plans for light-rail transit. All of the projects are being developed as PPPs, in all cases with the operating component retained by the incumbent public operators.

Weeks before Ottawa’s financial close, SNC-Lavalin arranged Cdn$889 million in gap financing under a DBF concession for an 11-km extension of Translink’s SkyTrain system in Vancouver. Graham Building Services/ International Bridge / Jacobs / SNC-Lavalin Constructors  and MMM Group will deliver the extension to the regional operator in 2016.