A new agreement between Quebec and Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec calls for the Montreal-based money manager to develop and manage infrastructure assets for the province.
Potential infrastructure projects will be identified by the government while Caisse will be responsible for their development, financing and operation.
The new agreement will “speed up (the) delivery of (infrastructure projects) and strengthen Quebec's economic growth,” a news release from Caisse said.
Two potential projects that have already been identified are a public transit system on Montreal's Champlain Bridge and a public transit system linking Montreal to the Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and the West Island.
The projects will require a combined C$5 billion (US$4.18 billion) of financing and are expected to be completed by the end of 2020.
The projects will be executed by CDPQ Infra, a new Caisse subsidiary, pending approval from the National Assembly of Quebec. Carlos Leitao, Quebec's finance minister, expects to introduce legislative amendments calling for the formation of CDPQ Infra in the “coming weeks,” Caisse spokeswoman Sarah-Emilie Bouchard wrote in an e-mail.
Caisse oversees total assets of about C$214.7 billion for provincial, municipal and other pension funds in Quebec as well as other provincial entities, of which C$8 billion is in infrastructure and $53.8 billion in Quebec-related investments.
“Infrastructure has been central to our investment strategy for several years,” said Michael Sabia, president and CEO of Caisse, in the news release. “Today's agreement will allows us to increase our exposure to infrastructure while concretely putting our expertise to work for Quebec's economy.”
