Canada deserves infrastructure that is delivered through construction projects finishing on time and within budget. At present, research on major infrastructure projects has found that roughly nine out of ten experience cost overruns, while delays are also widespread across the sector.

Delays and cost overruns in construction projects carry a significant public cost. Taxpayers pay more. Communities wait longer. Public confidence erodes. Yet one of the most important safeguards in project delivery, Project Controls, is too often treated as a back-office support role instead of what it truly is: a critical governance function that protects the core project objectives of finishing on time and within budget.

Project Controls professionals are responsible for monitoring and reporting schedule and cost performance, forecasting risk, and providing decision-makers with early warnings before risks become actual issues. When the Project Controls function is not given the mandate and operational budget it needs — ability for meaningful reporting, as well as a vital layer of oversight is lost — ultimately increasing the likelihood of delays and cost overruns.

This petition calls on the Right Honourable Prime Minister and the Government of Canada to formally recognize Project Controls as a Project Delivery Governance function in Canadian construction projects. To support this, the petition requests that:
      •   Project Controls budgets be excluded from construction budgets and construction bid amounts
      •   Instead, Project Controls be included as provisional expense items within overall project budgets

At present, winning construction bidders often carry compressed Project Controls budgets within their bid amounts. This petition proposes that, once the winning bidder is announced, the bidder should then be required to submit a Project Controls execution plan, with funding for that function awarded separately and in addition to the construction bid amount.

The rationale is straightforward: a mandate supported by even a nominal investment in Project Controls can generate savings many times over for the project. This practical reform can significantly improve outcomes for construction projects in Canada.

Canada is investing billions in infrastructure that is ultimately delivered through construction projects. We must simplify how those projects are monitored in order to support timely completion and delivery within budget.

Sign this petition to support the on-time and within-budget completion of construction projects through simpler but stronger Project Delivery Governance.