November 17, 2021
David Podmore, OBC, Concert Infrastructure Founder and Chair, Named 2021 P3 Champion by CCPPP
Award to be presented at P3 2021 today at 2:15 p.m. ET
David Podmore, OBC, a Canadian real-estate development icon, will be celebrated today as a winner of the 2021 Champion Award by The Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships.
Podmore, founder and chair of Concert Infrastructure, will receive the prestigious award virtually at P3 2021, CCPPP’s 29th annual conference. He will be honoured alongside fellow 2021 Champion Award winner Jim King, founder of EllisDon Capital.
“David’s vision for P3s has touched every corner of the Canadian market,” said Brad Nicpon, Partner, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, and chair of the national awards committee.
“He founded Concert, an important Canadian player in the social infrastructure space, brought pension plan investors into the P3 fold and advocated for use of the P3 model across the country within unique and challenging asset types,” he continued. “David had a remarkable vision of what the P3 model could achieve that others are continuing to follow to this day.”
The Champion Award is presented by the Council to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to P3s in Canada. The 2021 awards are supported by gold sponsor McCarthy Tétrault LLP and silver sponsor Colas Canada.
Podmore joins a long line of distinguished Canadians who have received the award, including: John McArthur, former president and chairman, Kiewit Development; Mike Marasco, former Plenary Concessions CEO; James Flaherty, former federal finance minister; John M. Beck, Aecon Group Inc. founder and chairman; and Sarah Clark, president and CEO at Fraser River Pile and Dredge (GP) Inc. and former president and CEO of Partnerships British Columbia.
“I am humbled and honoured to be recognized by The Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships, the Board of Directors and its members, and be amongst a group of tremendous leaders who previously won this award,” said Podmore. “It’s been wonderful to see the growth of the Canadian P3 market and to successfully deliver and manage the critical infrastructure projects that Concert is so proudly part of.”
In particular, the awards committee noted he had worked tirelessly to advocate for the P3 model and the need to build quality infrastructure across Canada. His vision of a pooled pension plan infrastructure investment vehicle also enabled small- to medium-sized Canadian union and management pensions (including building trades) to directly invest in Canadian P3 infrastructure.
In 1989, Podmore co-founded Concert Properties to deliver assured rental housing on behalf of the City of Vancouver and the Province of British Columbia. In 2010, through David’s vision and relationship with Concert’s long-standing union and management pension plan shareholders, Concert Infrastructure was founded as an independent entity to directly invest in, develop and manage Canadian P3 infrastructure projects. Concert Infrastructure has since gone on to successfully deliver essential infrastructure projects across Canada.
His vision of a pooled pension plan infrastructure investment vehicle is a model that is now advocated and adopted by other institutional investors across North America. In addition to his professional leadership and work, David has been a tireless community leader and supporter across several important initiatives and projects that have strengthened social and economic infrastructure in British Columbia and Vancouver.
Derron Bain, managing director, Concert Infrastructure, noted: “Through his professional and volunteer project leadership, advocacy and work, David has directly contributed to strengthening the economic and social fabric of Canadian communities. On behalf of everyone at Concert, we would like to offer our sincere congratulations to David on this well-deserved recognition.”