The lowest bid on the fixed-price project came in at $334 million – way beyond the $175 million budgeted for the building in 2016. The City of Ottawa will now have to scramble to find a way to pay its share of the inflated cost.

The buildings sit along the corridor of the city’s planned LRT route, and must be removed to accommodate the line.

A survey of small and medium-sized enterprises by KPMG found 92 percent are confident they have the right strategies to overcome short-term hurdles and grow their company in the next three years.

The latest P3 Market Update document from Infrastructure Ontario was light on project news, with only four projects changing status. It did, however, introduce a new P3 procurement model that the government intends to use on complex projects.

The drop of 2 percent is the fourth in a row since values reached $19.7 billion in April. The housing sector in particular has shed more than 14 percent of its value since the spring.