Construction of a new tunnel between Delta and Richmond is once again up for bidding as the province adjusts its procurement strategy for the project.
Announced in August of 2021, the Fraser River Tunnel Project will replace the 65-year-old George Massey Tunnel with a new toll-free eight-lane immersed-tube tunnel featuring three general-purpose travel lanes and one dedicated transit lane in each direction, as well as a separate multi-use path to support walking, biking and other active transportation options.
The crossing, which will be located immediately upstream of the existing tunnel, will be about one kilometre longer and three metres deeper, the latter to accommodate double-decker transit buses.
The province has been working with Cross Fraser Partnership — a bid team comprised of Bouygues Construction Canada Inc., Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas Canada Ltd., Pomerleau BC Inc. and Arcadis Canada Inc. — since September of 2024 under a design and early works agreement to advance project design, technical studies and early construction activities.
Early construction work started in January 2026, including tree clearing, utility relocations and preparation for the construction of a casting basin on Deas Island where tunnel sections will be built. Temporary infrastructure construction is also underway, including the construction of three jetties for the delivery of materials, a trestle bridge onto Deas Island, access roads and retaining walls for the casting basin.
All of that was underway while the province and Cross Fraser Partnership worked toward a potential final construction agreement.
On Monday afternoon (June 15), the Ministry of Transportation and Transit issued a press release announcing it is cancelling its agreement with Cross Fraser Partnership.
“While significant progress has been made on design and current construction work, agreement on the commercial terms for final construction of the tunnel was not reached,” according to the ministry’s press release.
“As a result, government is exercising a termination option that was built into the process, which will allow the province to re-tender this work to seek the best value.”
The release states the province will now be moving forward with a procurement strategy designed to strengthen competition and allow for more local contractors.
“We’ve received good value from the contractor and have made steady progress with the design, thanks to their work. However, this project is critical to British Columbia’s future, and we are taking this back to a competitive process to seek the best possible value for taxpayers,” Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth said in the ministry’s press release.
“We know the market is hungry for work on major infrastructure projects, and engagement with industry confirmed there is strong interest in competing for this project.”
The ministry says the revised procurement strategy will divide the remaining work into several procurement packages, allowing a broader range of qualified firms to bid on portions of the project. It cites the Surrey Langley SkyTrain project and the Fraser Valley Highway 1 Corridor Improvement Program as examples where a similar approach — breaking work into multiple contracts — helped strengthen competition, improve flexibility and support local companies.
“By design, our process has a pre-existing termination option in case we could not reach mutually acceptable terms. We are well placed to leverage improving market competitiveness,” Farnworth said.
“Moving to a revised procurement model creates more opportunities for Canadian and local contractors to participate while ensuring this nation-building project is delivered in the most fiscally responsible way possible.”
As a first step, the ministry says requests for qualifications will be issued to identify proponents for key phases of the project, adding industry engagement — including discussions with international, Canadian and local contractors — has confirmed strong market interest in the revised approach, including from companies here in B.C.
The project previously went to market in 2023 as a single, large progressive-design-build procurement, which resulted in the now-cancelled agreement with Cross Fraser Partnership.
The ministry says the revised procurement model “better reflects current market conditions while ensuring continued momentum on one of British Columbia’s most important transportation projects.”
Construction will continue while procurement for future phases is underway, with the ministry noting design work, technical investigations, utility co-ordination and other early works already completed will continue to support project delivery.
Meanwhile, an evaluation of the project’s environmental impacts is still underway, with the province saying it expects B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Office to complete its review before the end of 2026.
The ministry’s release says major construction is still anticipated to begin in 2027, but does not offer an update on the project’s budget or estimated completion date.
The project website (highway99tunnel.ca/project-overview-frt) still lists its budget as $4.15 billion, with project completion in 2030 — figures unchanged since the project was announced in 2021.
Monday’s release also says the province is engaged in “productive discussions” with the federal government regarding “federal support for this nation-building project.”
“The Fraser River Tunnel Project will benefit all of Canada by improving access to B.C.’s ports, ensuring smooth flow of goods into and out of the country and reducing our reliance on the U.S.,” Farnworth said.
“We are having constructive conversations with our federal partners about this important infrastructure project, which they have committed to support, and how it is critical for building Canada and growing the economy.”