Ontario Construction News staff writer
The Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships (CCPPP) has presented Aecon’s Steve Nackan with the 2022 Champion Award.
Nackan, who has served as a volunteer member of the Council’s board of directors since 2013, received the award last week at P3 2022, the 30th anniversary of CCPPP’s annual conference.
“Steve is a deeply respected leader in Canada’s P3 infrastructure sector and internationally,” Mark Bain, CCPPP’s chair and Partner, Torys LLP, said at the ceremony. “His carefully deliberated opinions carry weight at the table when challenges and opportunities arise, based off the tremendous depth of his experience and ingenuity in structuring successful P3 partnerships and the use of innovative finance models at Aecon.
“The Council has also benefitted tremendously from his support and guidance as a long-serving member of our board and executive committee,”
The Champion Award recognizes individuals “who have made an outstanding contribution to P3s in Canada”.
A full list of past award winners can be found here.
“I am extremely honoured to receive this award from CCPPP and would like to thank the awards committee and my fellow board members for this recognition,” Nackan said. “The P3 model has transformed infrastructure development since its inception, and I am proud to have played a leading role in delivering nation-building projects with significant societal and economic benefits.
“As the P3 model continues to evolve, I look forward to being at the forefront of this journey while continuing to lead complex projects in Canada and successfully exporting Canadian expertise internationally.”
The awards committee noted Nackan has played an integral role for more than 20 years at Aecon, guiding the evolution of the ‘made in Canada’ public-private partnership model and championing new and innovative P3 finance models. Working closely with John M. Beck, Aecon Group Inc.’s founder and chairman, he has built upon the company’s pioneering work in helping develop the country’s successful P3 market for the past 30 years.
“Flexibility, perseverance, a measured approach to risk, innovation, intellectual curiosity and a natural gift for communicating with people, are the predominant characteristics of Steve’s leadership in the P3 space,” said John M. Beck, a fellow recipient of CCPPP’s Champion Award in 2013. “He has propelled Aecon forward — becoming a champion in the continuous evolution of P3s and the new collaborative model through exciting, complex and unprecedented new projects. He has been vital in transforming the P3 space in Canada and abroad, and his reputation with clients, partners, industry peers, unions and governments is first-rate.”
At Aecon, Nackan is responsible for infrastructure development and concession management activities, leading teams that provide project development, financing, investment and management services to deliver world-class, sustainable infrastructure.
He has been critical in leading award-winning P3 infrastructure projects, including the L.F. Wade International Airport Redevelopment project in Bermuda and the Quito International Airport project in Ecuador, and had an important role in forming the partnerships for the Gordie Howe International Bridge, Waterloo LRT ION Stage 1 and the Eglinton Crosstown and Finch West LRT projects. Currently, he is leading one of Aecon’s most recently awarded projects — the GO Expansion On-Corridor Works project in Ontario, the largest transit project in the province’s history.
His team is set to take over operations and maintenance responsibilities through the newly formed ONxpress Transportation Partners consortium.