Up to $500 million in stimulus funds may never get out the door

A new report by Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page says up to $500 million of Ottawa’s $4 billion stimulus fund could be orphaned as nearly 2,000 projects are at risk of missing a March 31, 2011 deadline. That’s the worst case scenario, according to the PBO, but even in a middle case scenrio, some 936 projects may not be completed on time, leaving $293 million on the table. Infrastructure Canada has estimated that only about two per cent of the 4,000 projects on the go are at "high risk" of missing the deadline, while 17 per cent are more than a month behind schedule. Some 58 per cent of projects are, however, estimated to be ahead of schedule.

Montreal Gazette