Another major infrastructure project in Hamilton has been cancelled.

The Ontario government announced on May 8 that it would not proceed with construction of the Halton Region Consolidated Courthouse construction project. The project was in the procurement phase prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and was due to reach financial close last month.

The province has instead said that the money allocated for the project, believed to be between $200 million and $500 million, will be repurposed to create a facility that enables more services to be delivered online.

In December, the province indicated it had scrapped plans to build a light rail system in Hamilton. At the time, it said that the price tag for the transit project had ballooned to an estimated $5-billion—far more than the $1 billion the government had earmarked for the works. A special committee that was truck to study alternatives to the project recommended in April that the province spend the transit money on a truncated version of the original proposal or on new bus transit projects.

The Halton courthouse project, it seems, was scrapped for entirely different reasons. The COVID-19 pandemic has given the government cause to reconsider how legal services are delivered. Attorney General Doug Downey said on May 8 that the pandemic has highlighted the extent to which the needs of the justice system have changed.

“Experience gained during COVID-19 underscores the urgent need to invest in technology, modernize processes and expand access to justice across the province, including in rural and remote regions,” he said. “Our justice partners have joined us in acknowledging we must continue to press forward boldly toward a more accessible, responsive and resilient system that will continue to evolve long after the pandemic is over. “

Although this iteration of the project has been cancelled, Downey said the government remains committed to addressing the need for a new courthouse in Milton and Burlington.

The Halton Region Consolidated Courthouse was intended to be a 25-room facility in Oakville. The project had been on Infrastructure Ontario’s books since 2017, and was to be built under a public-private partnership arrangement. At the time of the project’s cancellation, three consortia—EllisDon Infrastructure Justice, Escarpment Justice Alliance and Plenary PCL Justice—had submitted bids for the work. They will be compensated according to the terms of the request for proposals document.