The long-delayed, controversial plan to replace the George Massey Tunnel has hit another roadblock, after the B.C. government cancelled its contract with a consortium of firms it had hired two years ago to design and build the project.

The move could have ramifications for the $4.15-billion price tag, which is already a nearly five-year-old estimate. But Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth insisted the timeline to build and open the new eight-lane tunnel remains roughly on track for 2030.

“At the end of the day we’re not able to reach an agreement on the commercial terms for the final construction of the project,” Farnworth said in an interview Monday.

“As a result, in that existing contract there is a termination option which allows us to off-ramp and to move forward with an enhanced procurement option. And that is what we’re doing.”

The termination ends the government’s contract with the Cross Fraser Partnership team, which it signed in 2024. That team included Bouygues Construction Canada Inc., Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas Canada Ltd., Pomerleau BC Inc. and Arcadis Canada Inc.

The ability to walk away from the deal was built into the design-build contract, and is not believed to contain penalties for the province.

The companies had been widely praised by the NDP government in 2024, with Bouygues in particular cited for its experience building the Channel Tunnel (Chunnel) under the English Channel between France and the United Kingdom.

The Massey project has been a political hot potato since the NDP government took power in 2017 and cancelled the previous Liberal government’s plan for a ten-lane bridge. Since then, the project has faced delays, partly due to lack of money and political interest. Opposition parties have demanded a return to a bridge.

Farnworth has previously said the project is past the point of no return. But the February provincial budget contained an asterisk beside the cost, leading to widespread speculation the complex engineering project to submerge a large concrete tube into the salmon-bearing Fraser River requires more money.

The tunnel project is currently on track to complete its environmental assessment review later this year, said Farnworth. Construction should begin in 2027.

“It doesn’t change the timeline of the project, right now,” he said.

“We’re still on track in terms of the environmental assessment review that is underway for that to be completed by later this year. It doesn’t impact the construction activities that are currently underway when we go out and get procurement.”

Farnworth said the province will pivot into breaking the design-build contract up into smaller pieces to entice B.C. and Canadian companies.

“We’ve done market soundings and the construction sector is very hungry right now,” he said.

The downturn in the housing market, combined with the end of major projects like LNG Canada and the twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline, appears to have left capacity for smaller companies.

Farnworth continued to sidestep questions on the budget.

“I’ll have more to say on that once the procurement is in place,” he said.

But he did indicate the federal government, which has long ignored the Massey project, is finally coming to the table with cash.

“We’re having positive discussions with the federal government,” he said.

Any money from Ottawa could help soften the blow of what is clearly a project that continues to slide sideways.

Rob Shaw has spent more than 18 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for BIV. He hosts the weekly show Political Capital and has a NEW daily podcast, Political Capital Daily.

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