MHCA, MTI meet to discuss 2024 budget, tender schedule

The MHCA and senior Board members will meet with the deputy minister and senior MTI staff to discuss the 2024 highways capital program, including the implications out of the government’s decision to stop carrying over unexpended program dollars to subsequent budget years.

The 2024 provincial budget, released April 2, held the highways capital program at $500 million, as per the government’s commitment.

However, the official policy, since 2020, to roll over any dollars not spent in a program year to the next year’s highways capital budget was ended.

“This is a significant and unfortunate provincial government decision because, while the department and industry have been working hard to ensure budget set equals budget spent, there is work yet to be done on that goal,” MHCA President Chris Lorenc said.

“In fact, in the last two budget years the unexpended amounts have approached $60 million – a huge piece of the actual dollars flowing to construction contracts for work on highways.”

This year, the department has told MHCA 80% of the 2024 program had been tendered/awarded by late February. That includes dollars for new stages of multi-year projects, 2023 tenders awarded but not started and projects started but not completed, and therefore carried forward.

“Our industry is not seeing 80% of a $500-million program in work, either in work already underway or to be started, from last year’s contracts,” Lorenc said.

Industry needs some predictability when it comes to expectation of program value and tenders to be published, in order to line up equipment, human resources and materials, Lorenc noted.

At present, all of that is in flux because of the surprising status of program expenditure to date.

MHCA has requested MTI senior administration to provide description of those projects and aligned dollar values to better understand how 80% of the $500-million program for 2024 has been accounted for to date.