Ontario Place redevelopment costs grow by $1.8 billion: Auditor report

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Costs for redeveloping Ontario Place have ballooned by $1.8 billion, according to the annual report from Ontario’s auditor general released Tuesday, with the AG alleging a process for the monumental project that was neither fair nor transparent.

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Speaking during a morning press conference at Queen’s Park, Auditor General Shelley Spence said a number of costs totalling $950 million weren’t fully considered during the project’s planning phases.

“As a master developer, the province is responsible for over $950 million in costs to develop Ontario Place, including costs for the public realm, parking and connecting public transit from exhibition place to Ontario Place,” Spence said.

“None of these costs were presented to decision-makers when Infrastructure Ontario and the Ministry of Tourism recommended a multi-partner approach.”

Ontario Place was among 10 separate performance audit reports released Tuesday by the AG, investigating such issues as the Ontario Land Tribunal, Ontario’s Immigrant Nominee Program, Ontario’s opioid strategy, and the Toronto District School Board.

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Spence also cited problems with the development process, calling it neither fair nor transparent, alleging that one of the participants — later identified as a preferred developer — was allowed to submit their submission after the deadline.

Some bidders also had meetings with government staff during the process, which is against the rules.

The report stated that an executive at Infrastructure Ontario responsible for conducting financial assessments communicated directly with a bidder, consisting of nine emails and one call with Therme Canada — the firm tasked with redeveloping the site.

As of February 2024, Infrastructure Ontario projected the total cost of the Ontario Place redevelopment to be $2.2 billion, the auditor said.

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Spence also determined a $400-million increase in the government’s 2023 estimates on relocating the Ontario Science Centre from Don Mills Rd. to the Ontario Place site, putting the project’s cost at $1.4 billion.

That’s more than the estimated $1.3-billion price tag on rehabilitating the beloved attraction’s existing building.

The AG also took aim at the Toronto District School Board (TDSB,) claiming Canada’s largest school board isn’t providing a safe learning environment for both students and staff.

“TDSB’s rate of violence incidents is lower than the provincial average, but it is at the highest that it’s ever been reported,” she said, noting systems meant to track incidents of bullying needs improvement.

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The report says violent incidents at TDSB schools increased by 67% between the 2017-18 and 2022-23 school years, while such incidents at other Ontario boards increased by 114%.

There were 244 violent incidents in 2017-18, increasing to 283 the next year before plummeting to 78 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That number grew to 251 incidents by 2021-22, peaking at 407 in 2022-23.

The audit also found that violent incidents between 2017-18 and 2021-22 were underreported by 9%, thanks to documentation errors by TDSB principals.

Among the more troubling findings in the report was that the TDSB has no mechanism in place to periodically perform criminal background checks on staff or contractors in direct contact with students, only relying on checks done upon hiring or transfer to another school — instead largely relying on annual self-reporting, which the audit says only 16% were submitted since the 2018-19 school year.

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SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS FROM OTHER REPORTS

MINISTER’S ZONING ORDERS

The AG found that provincial use of Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs) — which allows Ontario’s housing minister to change and override municipal zoning rules — saw a 17-fold increase between 2019 and 2023 compared to the previous two decades. The report found that 114 MZOs were issued over the time period, around 23 per year.

“None of the information packages that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing prepared for the minister during this time contained an assessment as to whether the NZO was necessary,” Spence said.

DIGITIZATION OF SERVICEONTARIO

Despite $100 million spent over the past decade, ServiceOntario has not met its mandate to digitize government services. The report found that ServiceOntario has no online option for over half of its products, specifically high-demand services like health cards and driver’s licences. Despite internal targets of 50%, only 33% of transactions occurred online over the past five years. Other provinces, she said, are taking advantage of emerging technologies such as digital ID, chatbots and mobile apps at a far greater pace than Ontario.

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ONTARIO’S OPIOID STRATEGY

The report determined the province’s opioid strategy, which dates back to 2016, is outdated and doesn’t address key issues such as the differing impact in certain regions and population groups, a lack of accountability and leadership, and poor data tracking. The report also noted that access to addiction treatment was limited, and infrequently offered in primary care settings.

ONTARIO IMMIGRANT NOMINEE PROGRAM

A lack of coordination between the federal government and the province means Ontario, which receives more new immigrants than any other province, has less say in economic migrants granted permanent residency than other provinces. As well, the report highlighted issues of misrepresentation among applicants.

“We found that in 2023, only 3% of all applicants were inspected by the Ministry (of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development) and 9% from high-risk streams,” Spence said.

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