Evaluation of the Federal Government's Participation in the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Initiative

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5.0 CONCLUSIONS

As noted in the evaluation findings, the federal participation in the TWRI appears to be aligned with federal priorities, and the use of a corporation is a sound approach to managing complex revitalization activities. Issues with respect to timeliness of funding expenditures and project implementation/completion have been noted, which are hampering the ability of the TWRI to achieve many of its expected outcomes. Still, the TWRI has completed extensive work in the areas of planning, design, and public consultation, and the completion of some public spaces has helped to revitalize some areas of the waterfront. The final section presents the conclusions of the evaluation.

5.1 Relevance

The revitalization of the Toronto waterfront is consistent with federal priorities.

Federal participation in the TWRI is consistent with a long history of federal participation in similar infrastructure and urban renewal initiatives, including the redevelopment of waterfront areas in Halifax, and in the Forks in Winnipeg, among others. Federal government support is also consistent with federal support in other countries for large-scale waterfront initiatives in cities like London and others.

Furthermore, federal participation in the TWRI is aligned with current Government of Canada priorities in the areas of economic leadership and environmental improvement.

There is a demonstrated need for federal participation in the TWRI.

A historic roadblock to revitalization of the Toronto waterfront area has been the lack of coordinated vision and effort on the part of all stakeholders, including the three orders of government. Through federal participation in the TWRI, with the City of Toronto and Province of Ontario, revitalization efforts have benefited from this enhanced coordination, in terms of planning and development. The evaluation suggests that without the participation of the federal government, large-scale revitalization of the waterfront area would have faced considerable constraints or challenges.

The TWRI has lacked a consistent and appropriate department home for its federal Secretariat.

Federal participation in the TWRI is currently managed through the efforts of a TWRI Secretariat located in the Department of Environment Canada. Federal efforts in the TWRI have been attached to the federal Minister responsible for Toronto and/or Ontario. As a result, responsibility for the federal TWRI has been housed in five different departments since 2000: Transport Canada, HRSDC, CIC, TBS, and its current home at Environment Canada. This has frequently led to misalignment between the Secretariat's objectives and those of its sponsor department.

While the current home of the Secretariat within the Department of Environment Canada is a better "fit" than past departmental homes due to the environmental objectives of the TWRI, federal infrastructure projects since 2002 have been concentrated in the department of Infrastructure Canada. However, the federal TWRI Secretariat manages contribution agreements directly with recipients, rather than in partnership with other departments, which makes the operational function different from many infrastructure programs at Infrastructure Canada.

5.2 Design, Delivery and Cost-effectiveness

The expenditure of federal TWRI funds has been slower than expected.

The federal investment in the TWRI was originally allocated over seven years, from 2000-2001 to 2007-2008. Due to delays in spending, the federal funding commitment to the TWRI was extended for an additional three years to 2010-2011.

To date, the federal TWRI Secretariat has expended approximately $124 million of its planned $410 million investment. While work has been undertaken on various TWRI projects, revitalization activities have not progressed at the pace anticipated which has slowed the expenditure of federal TWRI funding. Attention has been given by the TWRC and all three order of government to improve the timeliness of revitalization, including through improved project management processes and higher levels of staffing at the TWRC, strategic allocation of government funding, and other measures.

The three orders of governments have also approved a multi-year funding plan that has fully planned the allocation of each government's investment in waterfront revitalization until the end of their respective sunset dates. However, given that less than one-third of the $410 million in federal TWRI Secretariat's funds have been spent by the federal government to date, the federal government may be unable to expend all project funding before the end of 2010-2011.

Development of a corporation to implement revitalization activities is an effective vehicle for meeting TWRI objectives, but TWRC activities have not met expectations around timelines.

The TWRC was developed to oversee and lead waterfront revitalization. The use of a stand-alone corporation to guide revitalization activities is a method used in numerous jurisdictions, including in Halifax and Winnipeg, and in London, UK, and Sydney, Australia, among many others.

The research suggests that the TWRC has faced difficulties in undertaking revitalization activities at a pace sufficient to meet federal timelines for TWRI funding. This has resulted in extensions to the federal TWRI sunset dates, as well as delays in the TWRC expending its contribution funding from the federal government.

The federal TWRI Secretariat appears to demonstrate value for money.

The federal TWRI Secretariat is unique in that it directly manages a contribution program delivering federal infrastructure funding within the department of Environment Canada. The federal TWRI Secretariat appears to demonstrate value-for-money when comparing its ratio of O&M costs to contribution expenditures with that of the department of Infrastructure Canada.

IGSC was not generally seen as an effective governance body, but TWRI activities were felt to have been well coordinated through an Operations Working Group.

Government oversight of the TWRI is provided through the Intergovernmental Steering Committee (IGSC). Evaluation findings suggests that it has not been an effective body due to the irregularity of meetings and frequent changes in federal government membership as a result of changes in senior federal management when the Secretariat has changed departmental home. An Operations Working Group has also been established to manage TWRI contribution agreements across governments, and was generally felt to have been an effective venue for communication and coordination.

While the use of a contribution program to deliver TWRI funding has provided federal oversight of its funding, the contribution program has been perceived to be administratively challenging.

The use of a contribution program has ensured that federal funding is being spent according to its terms and conditions. As many contribution agreements with the TWRC have involved more than one government, this process has been complex. As a result, many stakeholders at the TWRC have found the use of a contribution program to deliver TWRI funding to have involved excessive and time-consuming administration and reporting requirements.

The additional tri-governmental indemnification requirements for TWRI projects were perceived to have had a negative effect on the timeliness of revitalization activities.

The indemnification clauses of TWRI contribution agreements with the TWRC include requirements for third-party contractors and other eligible recipients (such as suppliers completing project activities under the management of the TWRC) to assume unlimited liability for their services. This requirement has been perceived to have, at times, slowed the contracting process between the TWRC and its suppliers, as well as restrict the range of suppliers willing to provide services to the TWRC. The TWRC and the three funding governments have been in dialogue to find mutually satisfactory solutions to move forward on risk management.

5.3 Success

Contribution agreements have largely been for planning, design, environmental assessments, and land restoration.

The federal government has signed 32 contribution agreements with the TWRC. These agreements have involved funding for a wide range of projects, including planning, design, environmental assessments and land restoration. A small number of agreements have also involved the completion of construction projects. These include the construction of a watercourse facility along the waterfront, improvements to the waterfront at John Quay and York Quay, the completion of Ireland Park and funding for the establishment of a not-for-profit organization for a summer theatre on the Toronto waterfront.

Projects have suffered from a range of challenges that have resulted in delays.

Projects have not been undertaken or completed according to timelines. The nature of multi-governmental funding agreements is inherently complex, requiring significant time. A challenge for the TWRC has been addressing the requirements of its three government funders, each with their own funding management requirements. Projects have also involved extensive stakeholder and public consultations. Further, tri-governmental environmental assessments for more complex projects can take considerable time to complete. Key informants also noted other reasons for project delays, including stalled negotiations over land acquisition and other factors. The indemnity requirements for contractors working on TWRI projects were also said to have complicated the bidding process in some instances.

It is too early to measure the extent to which the TWRI has resulted in economic benefits.

Expected outcomes of the TWRI include increased economic development and economic opportunities. As most of the TWRI work completed to date has involved planning, design, and preparation for construction, it is too early to assess the full economic impact of the TWRI. Businesses in the waterfront area surveyed for this project did not generally feel that waterfront revitalization had yet had a positive (or negative) impact on their business activities.

The TWRI has demonstrated sound environmental approaches to revitalization.

The TWRI has demonstrated sound environmental approaches in revitalization, as evidenced by the consistent use of environmental assessments, and the application of principles of sustainability at the TWRC. Residents and community organization members were overwhelmingly positive on the extent to which the waterfront revitalization had been undertaken using sound environmental approaches.

The TWRI has fostered greater community awareness and participation in waterfront planning and implementation.

The activities of the TWRI have fostered greater community awareness and participation in waterfront planning and implementation. This has been characterized by well-attended and numerous public and stakeholder consultations organized by the TWRC and through extensive media coverage. Further, the Quay to the City event, which opened up the central waterfront to pedestrians for an open-air event, garnered positive attention and a large degree of participation.

Some increase in accessibility of the waterfront as a result of federal participation in the TWRI can be seen, and more is planned or under construction.

Accessibility has been enhanced through the completion of Ireland Park, as well as through improvements to landscaping and promenades along John Quay and York Quay. Further, parks being developed through federal funding include Lake Ontario Park and Mimico Linear Park, among others. There are also a variety of recreational and parks areas that are planned for completion in 2008. These include Port Union Waterfront Park, Mimico Waterfront Linear Park (phase 1), Spadina Head of Slip and the Transitional Sports Fields.

According to the Precinct Plans, over 12,000 residential units are planned for the waterfront area in the West Don Lands and East Bayfront. These two precincts will connect the downtown to the lakefront and the Don River corridor.

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