Infrastructure BC (IBC) procures complex capital projects on behalf of the BC public sector.  PCI supported IBC to establish its very first alliance project for the Cowichan District Hospital Replacement Project (CDHRP).

The CDHRP will deliver a new hospital for the Cowichan region, covering design, construction, commissioning and activation. This is Canada's first vertical infrastructure project delivered under an alliance model, bringing Island Health, EllisDon, Parkin Architects, BCIB and Infrastructure BC together as a single integrated team. 

Critically, the entire procurement ran through the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown — at a time when in-person collaboration, workshops and relationship-building (the very foundations of an alliance selection process) were suddenly off the table. There was no established playbook for running a highly interactive, relationship-driven alliance selection entirely online. PCI had to invent one, building new virtual tools and facilitation methods from scratch so the process could stay collaborative and rigorous despite the constraints of lockdown.

PCI's role:

• Designed and ran Infrastructure BC's first twin-TOC alliance procurement in Canada — now the template for future BC alliance procurements

• Developed the alliance procurement and establishment plan, RFQ, RFP, ADA, PAA and other market-facing documentation

• Invented new tools and processes to replicate an interactive, collaborative, in-person selection experience in a fully virtual environment — reworking workshops, interviews and alignment sessions that had never before been run remotely, at a moment when no precedent existed for doing so

• Prepared the Owner's Team and evaluation panel to perform effectively in a virtual selection process and beyond, into contract delivery

• Structured compensation terms for the alliance contracts

• Facilitated proponent interviews, interactive selection workshops and commercial alignment — all delivered virtually under pandemic restrictions, without losing the depth of engagement an alliance model depends on

• Provided ongoing alliance coaching through the delivery phase, building a high-performing integrated team

Outcomes:

• All published key procurement dates achieved — despite running through a global pandemic lockdown

• Alliance selection methods created by PCI has become the template for future alliance procurements in BC

• As of July 2026, project is 90% complete and on track to open to patients in mid-2027

• Alliance team won Gold Level at the 2026 Touchstone Awards for evidence-based design

• The success of the alliance model led Infrastructure BC to select it as the delivery model for its next three major hospital projects — and to award PCI the work of designing and running the procurement process for all three.