Treasury Board is committed to pursuing new ways to undertake capital projects as Alberta continues to invest in public infrastructure to meet basic demands and strengthen the economy.

Treasury Board explores with stakeholders opportunities to pursue alternative approaches to building and financing capital projects, such as public-private partnerships (P3) or working in partnership with municipalities, wherever it is cost-effective and feasible. Alternative arrangements may not be the best fit for all capital projects. They are only considered where it makes sense from the taxpayers’ perspective.

A public-private partnership arrangement enables government to share the expense and risk of development with the private sector. It also ensures cost certainty for government since it is delivered at a fixed cost.

P3 agreements also allow the province to spread the cost of a project out over a longer period of time by accessing private capital and paying for an asset as it is consumed, rather than expensing the asset when it is constructed, which is the current practice. This enables the government to address a greater number of infrastructure pressures sooner and accelerate the building of roads, schools and other public facilities.