Infrastructure Ontario, Metrolinx unveil short list of firms to build Finch West light-rail project

Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx have released a request for proposals to companies short-listed to design, build, finance and maintain Toronto's Finch West light-rail project.

The teams were selected based on criteria identified in a request for qualifications process that began in September 2015. Selection criteria included construction capability, experience and financial capacity to deliver a project the size and complexity of the Finch West, Infrastructure Ontario officials said in a press release.

The identified teams are:
• Humber Valley Transit partners, which comprises SNC-Lavalin, Graham, ACI, National Bank and Scotia Capital;
• Mosaic Transit Group, comprising ACS, Aecon, CRH, and RBC Capital Markets; and
• FACT Partners, comprising EllisDon, Bechtel, Herzog Transit, and EllisDon Capital.

The Finch West project includes 6.8 miles of new dedicated light-rail track between Humber College and the Finch West Subway Station on the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension. The project also calls for construction of a maintenance and storage facility for light-rail vehicles.

The teams will spend most of this year preparing proposals detailing how they'll design, build and finance the project, as well as their plans for maintaining the light-rail system for a 30-year period.

As part of their proposals, the teams also must demonstrate how they'll support plans to increase apprenticeships and opportunities for local companies, as well as ensuring compliance with Metrolinx's "design excellence" and community benefit principles, Infrastructure Ontario officials said.

Slated for completion in 2021, the project is being delivered using Infrastructure Ontario's alternative financing and procurement model, which transfers risks associated with design, construction, financing and maintenance onto the private sector.

[Editor's note: This story has been updated since its initial posting.]


Map of the Finch West Light-Rail Transit Project
(Click to view larger.)
Source: Infrastructure Ontario/Metrolinx