Building Foundations: Advance's Canadian Infrastructure Journey Takes Shape

Published during the UK-Canada Infrastructure Partnerships Forum, following P3 2025

P3 2025 – the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships' annual conference – concluded yesterday in Toronto. Over 1,000 infrastructure professionals explored themes of resilience, investment, and delivery in uncertain times. For Advance Consultancy, the week continues: today we're at the UK-Canada Infrastructure Partnerships Forum, hosted by the Canadian High Commission and the UK Government's Department for Business and Trade.

These back-to-back events mark a significant moment in our Canadian journey – one deserving transparent reflection on where we've been, where we are, and where we're building toward.

From Project Work to Permanent Presence

Since late 2019, Advance has been delivering on complex infrastructure projects across Canada – particularly in Ontario, British Columbia and recently Quebec, focusing on major capital infrastructure investments. Our work concentrates on enabling the entities who bid for and deliver these projects: joint ventures and alliances in collaborative procurement environments.

This growth pattern hasn't been accidental. Canada's procurement landscape, with its emphasis on behavioural assessment and collaboration evaluation alongside technical capability, aligns naturally with how Advance works. Our methodology centres on #welisten – co-creating value through genuine partnership rather than imposing predetermined solutions.

Advance Consultancy (Canada) Inc.: Foundation Building

In May 2025, we incorporated Advance Consultancy (Canada) Inc. in Toronto. Let's be transparent: this marks a foundation, not a finished building. It's an intentional step toward establishing permanent staff in Canada, but we're not there yet.

Advance operates a hybrid delivery model where associates are critical to value delivery. By establishing our Canadian subsidiary, we're creating infrastructure for Canada-based resources – associates first, working through a Canadian entity that demonstrates genuine market commitment, with clear intent toward a permanent delivery office with locally-based permanent staff.

This journey hasn't happened in isolation. The Canadian High Commission, UK Department for Business and Trade, and Toronto Global have been instrumental in supporting our expansion. Today's UK-Canada Infrastructure Partnerships Forum exemplifies how these organisations facilitate meaningful cross-border collaboration.

Why this phased approach? It aligns with our B Corp values – building sustainable capability, ensuring consistent project work and strong client relationships before committing to permanent overhead. It's the honest way to establish presence in a new market.

P3 2025: Innovation, Partnership, and Building Resilience

This year marked our third consecutive CCPPP conference attendance – the first as a Canadian incorporated entity. Our Canada Director and President of Advance Inc, Alexander Shakespeare, joined by consultant Gavin Bateman (and our newest team member Geoff Rayner who arrives for today's event), spent two intensive days engaging with the infrastructure community.

The conference delivered what Canada's infrastructure sector needs: honest dialogue about delivering in uncertain times. David Frum's opening keynote – "Building Resilience in an Age of Uncertainty: Canada, the U.S., and the Infrastructure of the Future" – set the tone. Premier Doug Ford's "Infrastructure, Innovation & Partnership in Times of Change" reinforced the challenge: delivering "once-in-a-generation nation-building projects" when the operating environment keeps shifting.

Infrastructure Ontario's Evolution

Angela Clayton's fireside chat with CCPPP's Lisa Mitchell proved particularly relevant. As Infrastructure Ontario celebrates its 20th anniversary, Clayton discussed the organisation's evolution toward what she described as "collaborative and progressive models" that offer "more flexible solutions for the market."

IO has delivered over $154 billion in projects since 2005, with 101 projects completed. Currently, 25 projects representing $30 billion sit in pre-procurement or active procurement. But the more interesting story is the adaptation.

Clayton spoke candidly about IO's response to trade and tariff uncertainty, emphasising partnership with industry to "build a more resilient, competitive market environment." This includes diversifying procurement models, adjusting project sizing, and evolving IO's approach as "an owner and partner" rather than purely a procuring authority.

This shift from transactional procurement toward genuine partnership represents exactly the direction Advance advocates for. The evolution requires different capabilities: bidding teams demonstrating genuine collaborative intent, not just technical competence; delivery organisations with governance that facilitates partnership; project sponsors who shape strategic direction, not just provide oversight.

Where Human Dynamics Meet Technical Capability

For those encountering Advance through these events, our focus may seem distinctive in a sector often dominated by technical and commercial discussions. Yet Clayton's description of Infrastructure Ontario's evolution toward "collaborative and progressive models" illustrates precisely why our work matters: the procurement landscape is changing, and success increasingly depends on capabilities that go beyond technical delivery.

We work at the intersection of capability and collaboration – addressing the human and organisational dynamics that determine whether complex projects deliver successfully:

Project Sponsorship and Leadership: Supporting senior leaders to move beyond governance oversight toward what Doug Ford described as genuine "partnership in times of change" – creating conditions for team performance, navigating stakeholder complexity, and establishing psychological safety that enables early problem surfacing.

Alliance Governance and Joint Venture Management: Designing and operating governance structures that facilitate genuine collaboration rather than contractual compliance. Our work—strengthened by partnerships like Anturas Consulting, with whom we've collaborated in the UK and who now join us in Canada, including at this week's P3 2025 and today's UK-Canada Forum—addresses how multiple organisations align incentives, manage tensions productively, and make decisions effectively in alliance environments. We see strong potential to combine their organisational and governance expertise with our culture and leadership capabilities in the Canadian market.

Collaborative Procurement and Behavioural Assessment: Supporting clients through procurement processes that evaluate collaboration capability alongside technical competence. IO's shift toward collaborative models means bidding teams must demonstrate genuine collaborative intent, not just technical credentials. But our experience shows these need to be much more than procurement 'tick-box' exercises for both client and supply chain.

Professional Collaboration and Resilience Building: Developing team capabilities in psychological safety, constructive challenge, and adaptive problem-solving throughout complex project delivery. That resilience comes from teams capable of surfacing problems early and adapting approaches based on emerging information.

Major projects fail more frequently due to dysfunctional relationships, inadequate project sponsorship, or poor alliance governance than from technical inadequacy. IO's procurement evolution and Ford's emphasis on "innovation and partnership" recognise this reality. Our work helps organisations translate these structural intentions into operational capability – building what Clayton described as "a more resilient, competitive market environment" one project, one team, one capability at a time.

Building Resilience Through Partnership

The conference reinforced alignment between our capabilities and where the Canadian market is heading. When Clayton describes IO diversifying toward "collaborative and progressive models," when Ford emphasises "partnership in times of change," when Frum frames the challenge as "building resilience in an age of uncertainty" – these aren't just conference themes. They're operational realities we help clients navigate daily.

Advance Consultancy (Canada) Inc. represents our foundation – not our final form. We're building systematically toward a permanent delivery office with locally-based permanent staff. Currently, that foundation comprises UK and Canada-based associates and partners working through our Canadian entity – bringing specialised expertise in alliance management, project leadership, and collaborative delivery.

This phased approach reflects intentional strategy aligned with the resilience-building principles the conference explored. We're establishing permanent presence the right way: building consistent project portfolios, developing strong client relationships, demonstrating sustained value delivery. Just as IO adjusts project sizing to improve market resilience, we're sizing our growth to match genuine capability development.

The May incorporation signals commitment while maintaining honesty about our journey stage. It enables genuine Canadian presence – actively looking to employ associates locally, engaging with procurement processes as a Canadian entity, contributing to industry dialogue. Most importantly, it aligns with our B Corp values: building business sustainably, treating people ethically, creating value for all stakeholders.

Looking Forward

Whether you encountered our team at P3 2025 or are engaging with this content during today's UK-Canada Infrastructure Partnerships Forum, we welcome continued conversation. If you're wrestling with delivery challenges on complex infrastructure projects, interested in how alliance governance can move beyond contractual mechanics, or want to discuss the infrastructure sector's evolution in Canada – we're here for those discussions.

We're transparent about our journey stage: building foundations through Canada-based associates is our next significant step, with clear intent toward permanent delivery presence. It's an honest approach that serves clients well – giving them access to proven expertise while we build sustainable capability systematically.

For organisations navigating complex infrastructure delivery in alliance or joint venture environments, for project sponsors seeking to strengthen leadership impact, for teams building genuine collaborative capability – Advance brings both international perspective and growing Canadian presence. We work where technical capability meets human dynamics, where project structures meet organisational reality, where strategic intent meets delivery performance.

From visitor to foundation builder. From project delivery to market presence. From promise to demonstrated commitment – step by intentional step, built on transparency, proven capability, and genuine partnership.

About Advance Consultancy: We're a B Corp certified consultancy specialising in complex infrastructure project delivery, with particular expertise in psychological safety, project sponsorship, alliance governance, and collaborative procurement. Established in the UK, we've been delivering projects in Canada since 2019, incorporating Advance Consultancy (Canada) Inc. in Toronto in May 2025.