Over Budget and Behind Schedule: The Causes and Cures of Infrastructure Cost Overruns

Cost overruns and schedule delays have plagued major infrastructure projects for decades. Every year, unexpected overruns cost governments tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars. Although these are often reported as isolated incidents, they are actually a systemic part of our infrastructure planning. International evidence suggests that the bigger the project, the more likely it will go over budget and miss its deadlines. The results are government budget deficits and a loss of public confidence in government to meet its commitments.

On January 21,  IMFG and today’s leading infrastructure thinkers and practitioners convened a conversation about how to overcome cost overruns on public infrastructure projects. The event followed the release of a new paper by Matti Siemiatycki for IMFG, called Cost Overruns on Major Infrastructure Projects: Patterns, Causes, and Cures.

Speakers:

• Matti Siemiatycki, University of Toronto, Associate Professor
• Ehren Cory, Infrastructure Ontario, Divisional President of Project Delivery
• James Purkis, Metrolinx, Executive Vice President of Regional Express Rail

The event was moderated by Andy Manahan, Executive Director of the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario.