The procurement process for the construction of a high-speed rail route from Toronto to Quebec City has been launched.
Last week, Alto, the Crown corporation behind the high-speed rail project, and Cadence, the Canadian-led group of companies selected to spearhead the development of the project, launched a market engagement process by presenting proposed early procurement activities, anticipated work packages and timelines for the first segment of the project, expected to be between Ottawa and Montreal.
“The Alto high-speed rail project is one of the most significant infrastructure investments in Canada in decades, and with that comes an enormous breadth of opportunity for Canadian businesses of all sizes, from engineering and construction to technology, operations, and supply chain,” Loic Dorbec, a representative for Cadence, said in an email statement to OBJ last week.
The group’s procurement strategy “is designed to foster broad, open and competitive market participation, encouraging partnerships and collaborative initiatives that strengthen Canadian industry, while ensuring access to the international expertise required to deliver the first high-speed rail project of its kind in Canada,” Dorbec said in the statement.
To accomplish this, Dorbec said the rail project is being structured to create pathways for small and medium-sized enterprises and Indigenous businesses, as well as “ including smaller targeted work packages and requirements for major contract holders to demonstrate meaningful local participation,” to support the federal government’s “buy Canadian” framework.
He said that Cadence and Alto have been directly engaging businesses along the Ottawa-Montreal corridor, including hosting procurement roundtable discussions in June. “What we are hearing is directly shaping our procurement approach,” he said in the statement.
Documents prepared by Cadence about the procurement process show that the Ottawa-area portion of the project will require civil works such as earthworks, drainage and foundations, railway structures, roadworks and municipal utility relocations. Associated works would be needed for the construction of a bridge over the Ottawa River and the Ottawa station.
In July, Cadence will host three industry information sessions in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal, with the first request for expressions of interest anticipated later this summer. Additional packages will follow through this fall and into 2027.
The rail project’s network would span 1,000 kilometres, with trains reaching speeds of 300 kilometres per hour. The project, estimated to cost between $60-90 billion, would begin with construction on the segment between Ottawa and Montreal in 2029-2030, with the full network expected to be operational in 12 years.
In February 2025, the Government of Canada selected Cadence as the preferred private developer partner for the Alto project. The group’s members include CDPQ Infra, AtkinsRéalis, Keolis, Systra, SNCF Voyageurs and Air Canada.
In January, Martin Imbleau, president and CEO of Alto, urged an Ottawa business crowd to get involved in the project.
“Imagine the talent and opportunities that Ottawa will be connected to. So instead of having three different localities, it becomes one big economic region. But before that, we need to build it. The opportunities (for) the development and construction (in) the Ottawa region is just fantastic. I need everyone to start preparing today, because construction will start in four years,” he said. “I need the businesses and construction community of Ottawa to get prepared for it.”
In his remarks, Imbleau said the project will offer many opportunities for Ottawa businesses.
“We’re already engaging producers to understand their capacity and readiness to provide us with domestic supply chains. Construction will also call for an army of expertise and workforce; 50,000 people will be required, enough to fill the Canadian (Tire) Centre three times over. We’re talking about Ottawa-based welders, surveyors, electricians (and) signal communication technicians to keep the train running safely at full speed at 300 kilometres per hour. Construction crews to build bridges, tunnels and electrified tracks, all with millimetre precision.”
