Nova Scotia's C$113 million Highway 104 toll road promises to change the way public infrastructure projects are financed in Canada. It is the first Canadian public-private partnership to meaningfully balance risks and rewards between government, the contractor/operator and the lenders. It blends both public and private capital, and relies exclusively on tolls to retire all project debt, pay for future upgrades, and ongoing maintenance. If the road had been a commuter route in a major urban centre, it might not have attracted much attention. But the fact it is a four-lane, 45-km stretch of road in the middle of the Nova Scotia woods sets it apart from other North American infrastructure projects, toll-road or otherwise. This paper, starts with an overview of the factors driving the evolution of public private partnerships in Canada, their benefits and some of the key success factors. This is followed by a detailed discussion of private financing solutions to government+s infrastructure problems and how these ideas where applied in the financing of Highway 104. (A)
Abstract