College's public-private partnership may be shape of infrastructure to come
St. Paul's College at U of M building Manitoba's 6th P3
A student residence at the University of Manitoba could be Manitoba's sixth public-private partnership and the first connected to education infrastructure.
So far the only public-private partnerships in the province have been roads, water treatment and the second phase of Winnipeg's rapid transit line.
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Senior staff at St. Paul's College hope to have final details completed shortly for a residence that would accommodate 240-300 students.
The project may be the template for several similar initiatives across the province as the Progressive Conservative government copes with a growing infrastructure deficit and pressure to balance the books.
Premier Brian Pallister will speak at a Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce-sponsored conference on public-private partnerships Tuesday morning.
It's expected that his Progressive Conservative government will turn to such partnerships as a way of funding a growing infrastructure gap.
St. Paul's College has been considering adding a residential component to its facilities for nearly 60 years, but current rector Chris Adams said it was time to look at a new way to fund the project. Money to build was too hard to raise and the college has no expertise in running residences.
Adams settled on a public-private partnership model after looking at other schools.
"I thought, how about we look at what's happening across Canada for student residences? And there are a number," Adams said, citing projects at Algonquin and Sheridan colleges where the public-private model was employed.
With the approval of the board of governors of St. Paul's, Adams issued a request for proposals online and received interest from 55 companies across Canada and one international outfit.
There are three companies left in the running as the college does the last parts of its due diligence.
The winning bidder will have to design and build the facility and operate and maintain it. The company will charge students a fee and keep all of the profit.
In return, Adams said, the college gets the use of a building it couldn't afford to erect on its own and will still retain some control.
"We have to have oversight and veto on the things going on in that building; after all, it will be a St. Paul's College residence. So they do all the things and get the profit, but we at least have a place where our students can come and live within the community," Adams said.
St. Paul's has no student residence currently and there has been pressure on the University of Manitoba to increase the overall on-campus residence capacity.
Adams said the U of M has provided the college with a letter of support for the project, but said the hope from senior college officials is the public-private partnership works.
"They want to us to succeed, because if this works for us, they might seriously consider that as a business model for some of their future endeavours," Adams said.
Manitoba's post-secondary schools are facing increasing financial pressure as grants from the provincial government have been frozen.
The college and the U of M will still have to negotiate the final points of the public-private partnership contract before a deal is signed with a company.
Pallister to pave the way?
A conference on public-private partnerships begins Tuesday morning in Winnipeg with a keynote speech by Pallister.
The event is sponsored by the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships and the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce. The agenda promises to explain the infrastructure requirements in Manitoba, how public-private partnerships obtain value for money and how local companies can be a key part of the partnerships.
Manitoba's Opposition NDP say there must be intense oversight before long-term public-private partnerships are signed.
"The Pallister government is failing to ensure that private-public partnerships are subject to public scrutiny," NDP finance critic James Allum said. "P3 deals should not be done in secrecy or without assurance that the public's money is being spent wisely."
The Tories introduced legislation earlier this year that would scrap provisions some believe provide the government with oversight of public-private partnerships.
The "red tape reduction" omnibus bill would end a requirement for major capital projects done in partnership with the private sector to first undergo a study comparing the benefits of doing them entirely with public funds.
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