Province announces Quebec City tramway will cost $7.6B, should be in service in 2033

Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand. (LA PRESSE CANADIENNE/Jacques Boissinot)

Phase 1 of Quebec City's tramway project, now known as "TramCité," will cost $7.6 billion and should be in service by 2033.

Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility Geneviève Guilbault made the announcement on Monday at a press conference in Quebec City.

Guilbault explained that the new financial evaluation of the project includes the costs associated with the preparatory and related work required to deliver the project.

However, she pointed out that the $7.6 billion figure represents the current estimate, and that this figure could change over time.

According to agreements signed between the government, Quebec City and CDPQ Infra, which will be the project's prime contractor, work is due to start in the summer of 2027, with commissioning scheduled for 2033.

Phase 1 of the tramway project comprises a 19-kilometre route linking the Le Gendre sector to Charlesbourg. The tramway will pass through Sainte-Foy, Université Laval, La colline parlementaire and Saint-Roch.

Under the agreements signed between the parties, Quebec will be responsible for defining the project's objective, timetable and budget. CDPQ Infra will be the prime contractor, while Quebec City will be a partner and beneficiary of the project.

CDPQ Infra has already built the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) in Montreal, among other projects.

The arrival of CDPQ Infra in the project in recent months represented another development in the tramway project, which has been ongoing since 2018. At that time, Philippe Couillard's Liberal government, together with the mayor at the time, Régis Labeaume, presented the first draft of a tramway project estimated at $3 billion.

The Coalition Avenir Québec government has often been accused by the opposition parties of skirting around this project and trying to sabotage it in favour of its project for a third motorway link between Lévis and Quebec City.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 16, 2024.