On February 2, 2024, the University of Toronto announced its $138-million infrastructure project which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50 percent, or 45,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalents, by the end of the decade. The project will begin phasing out natural gas in favor of electricity in the campus’s central steam plant, as well as carry out deep energy retrofits to its more energy-intensive buildings. U of T’s planned retrofits include replacing gas boilers with electric boilers in its central steam plant and installing a supplemental steam turbine.
This public-private sustainability project is among the largest in the higher-education sector. It will speed up the university’s efforts to make the St. George campus climate-positive, reducing more greenhouse gases than it emits, ahead of an original 2050 goal.
The project received financing from Royal Bank of Canada and the Canada Infrastructure Bank as well as grants from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) through a public procurement process.
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP represented the Royal Bank of Canada with a team that included Anthony Spadaro, William Buchner and Alex Maly (Project Finance).
Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP represented the University of Toronto with a team that included Charles Newman, Mark St. Cyr, Jonathan Fleisher, Corina Shachar and Sam DiGiuseppe.
McCarthy Tétrault LLP represented the Canada Infrastructure Bank with a team that included Lynn Parsons, Samantha Cunliffe, Liezl Behm and Zachary Kroll.