PRIVATE FINANCING FOR HIGHWAY 104: A REVOLUTION IN HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT

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 local government, the contractor/operator and the lenders. 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 were applied in the financing of Highway 104.