The international call for qualification launched by the Montreal Port Authority (MPA) to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the future Contrecoeur container terminal, on the South Shore, is now closed.
Five compliant application files were reviewed, the APM said Friday afternoon in a press release.
On the lot, three “teams” qualify: a Canadian, comprised of Axium Infrastructure and Pomerleau Capital; an American, from Ports American Holdings; and a Swiss, represented by Terminal Investment Limited (TIL). Details of the two unsuccessful bids were not released.
Qualified “Teams” will now be invited to submit a proposal once the full RFP has been submitted.
The process – to be launched in the coming weeksensures that the APM – will last 12 months, and the selection of the private partner will be announced in the second quarter of 2023, for commencement of work in the same year.
The Contrecoeur was chosen in the 1980s to accommodate containers from the Port of Montreal when it ran out of space.
The land needed to build the new terminal has been acquired over the years, but the project has been repeatedly delayed. For example, its commission date was pushed back to the end of last year. It is now scheduled for end of 2026.
The budget is essentially the same for several years – between 750 and 950 million dollars – and has not changed upwards, despite inflation. The Canada Infrastructure Bank has pledged to pay 300 million, and the Government of Quebec, 55 million.
The first call for qualification was launched in the summer of 2020. However, it was canceled the following year, the APM wanted to change its strategy and allow foreign companies to participate. The second call for qualification, announced in August 2021, will be published next November 23.
The project received Trudeau government support last year. In March, former Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson gave the green light despite the fact that the project would result in habitat destruction of an endemic fish species.
In its press release on Friday, however, PAM confirmed that the conditions set out in the statement of the decision of the Minister [devront] respect of the private partner to choose.
In November 2020, a report by Canada’s Impact Assessment Agency determined the future terminal is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.
Source: Radio-Canada
