The esports company, home to the Toronto Defiant and Ultra teams, says the project is worth close to $500 million and includes a 7,000-seat theatre-style venue and hotel complex.

The city announced on February 19 that it made a total investment of $98.7 million in its roads, water, sewer and transportation networks, as well as bridges and large culverts.

Seasonal workloads, reduced investments in building construction, and ongoing public-health measures to control the spread of COVID-19 combined to lower construction employment in January.

The company will use the money to manufacture more of its COVID-19 contact-tracing devices, and to create more jobs.

The group head of Plenary Americas’ buildings division previous served for seven years with Infrastructure Ontario and Ontario Realty Corp. She takes over her new role at IO in April.