2015 - Ontario - Winter Maintenance and Performance Based Contracting

Report from Ontario which reviewed experiences with winter maintenance under performanced based contracting.

It was found that there were serious failings. Even though ministry staff, including engineers, raised serious concerns during the procurement process that the majority of winning contractors would not be able to meet their winter maintenance commitments because of insufficient equipment, these lowest-price contractors were still awarded the contracts.

It was found that over the past five years, since MTO changed its highway maintenance contract process in 2009, the state of Ontario’s highways has deteriorated immensely, costing money and lives.