Ontario Looks to Nearly $15 Billion in 2017 Construction Starts

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Ontario has been seeing a boom in employment and economic growth of late, which is reflected in the capital spending on tap for next year. Industrial Info is tracking $14.79 billion in active projects set to kick off in Ontario in 2017, more than 85% of which are attributed to four industries: Metals & Minerals, Power Generation, Oil & Gas Pipelines, and Industrial Manufacturing.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Ontario's project kickoffs in 2017, by industry.

The Metals & Minerals Industry, as in most previous years, holds the top position with $3.59 billion worth of projects set to begin construction in Ontario in 2017, one of the largest of which is Northern Iron Corporation's (Vancouver, British Columbia) proposed $800 million Griffith Iron Ore Mine and Hot-Briquetted Iron Plant in Ear Falls. The project has faced a long period of delays, like many mining-related projects in the current environment of weak commodity prices. As planned, it would restart and expand the facility, which has been closed since 1986, into a 20,000-ton-per-day open pit mining operation with a 4,000-ton-per-day concentrator and a 1.5 million-ton-per-year hot-briquetted iron pellet plant, among other components. For more details, including contractor contact information, equipment and environmental requirements and the projected mine life, see Industrial Info's project report.

The Power Industry isn't far behind, with $3.4 billion in projected kickoffs, including Nigig Power Corporation's (Pickerel, Ontario) $600 million Henvey Inlet Windfarm in Sudbury. As designed, the facility would consist of 130 Vestas wind turbine generators, each with a capacity of 2.3 megawatts (MW), for a total output of about 300 MW. The company, which is owned by Henvey Inlet First Nation, partnered with Pattern Energy Group (NASDAQ:PEGI) (San Francisco, California) to construct the project. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

The Oil & Gas Pipelines Industry takes the bronze with $3.03 billion in 2017 construction starts, among them TransCanada Corporation's (TSX:TRP) (Calgary, Alberta) proposed series of compressor station additions to the Eastern Mainline Pipeline Project, such as the $140 million Cobourg station in Grafton and the Brockville station in Brockville. Each station would feature a pair of 14,751-horsepower, turbine-driven compressor gas packages to support TransCanada's 173-mile pipeline, which is designed to transport up to 250 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas from Markham to Iroquois, in Ontario. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the Cobourg and Brockville projects.

The Industrial Manufacturing Industry is looking at $2.9 billion in 2017 Ontario kickoffs, much of which is dedicated to boosting infrastructure in populated areas such as Toronto. Such project include Metrolinx's $1 billion light rail transit extension in Toronto, which would run 6.8 miles Rail Line from Finch Station, near York University, to Humber College. It would include 16 stations, plus a maintenance and storage facility. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

More than 84% of Ontario's TIV--$12.45 billion--are related to 159 projects that are now in the planning stages, where plenty of factors could increase, decrease or eliminate the expected spending. The region also has 30 projects worth more than $1.85 billion in the engineering stages, while 237 projects worth about $495 million are maintenance-related.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.