Heidi Visser
- Bio
- Awards & Recognition
- Professional Involvement
- Representative Matters
- Selected Speaking Engagements
- Selected Publications
- Education
Heidi relies on a profound understanding of the principles of project finance to guide her clients through sophisticated P3 infrastructure transactions. Heidi draws on more than 30 years of experience, and the knowledge that comes from representing the full range of infrastructure market participants, to help her clients achieve their business goals. Heidi is recognized as a leading advisor on P3 projects.
Heidi is a partner and a member of the firm's Infrastructure Group and Corporate Group. She practises in the area of corporate and project finance with an emphasis on infrastructure public-private partnerships (P3). Heidi has extensive experience in all aspects of P3 projects, including commercial arrangements and financing requirements for complex projects, tender documentation, concession agreements, design-build agreements, operation and maintenance agreements and financing documents.
She has advised governments, equity sponsors, lenders and subcontractors on a wide variety of civil, transportation and accommodation P3 projects in Canada and internationally, including roads, mass transit, hospitals, schools and universities, waste water facilities, courthouses and prisons.
In addition to her P3 and project finance experience, Heidi has broad experience in a wide variety of corporate matters, including acquisitions, divestures, public and private offerings, corporate reorganizations, financing and security arrangements, and partnership and joint venture arrangements.
Awards & Recognition
- Recognized in the 2020 and 2022 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a leading lawyer in the area of Infrastructure Law
- Listed in the Lexpert Special Edition: Infrastructure 2020
- Recommended by The Legal 500 Canada for her expertise in the practice area of Infrastructure and Projects
- Recommended by Chambers Canada: Canada's Leading Lawyers for Business as a top practitioner in Projects: PPP & Infrastructure (Canada)
Professional Involvement
Representative Matters
Advised the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Job
Creation and Trade on all aspects of its winning bid for Volkswagen’s first
overseas gigafactory, a several-billion-dollar investment that is one of the
largest in Canadian history.
Advising an Ontario regional government in connection with the procurement of a waste management processing system.
Advising a western-based municipally-owned corporation in connection with the procurement of a water treatment plant renewal project using an innovative design-build procurement model that has not previously been used in Canada.
Advising a provincial government in connection with a DBFOM highway currently in procurement.
Advising the City of Edmonton in connection with the expansion of its LRT system.
Advising lenders to short-listed consortia on two segments of the Metrolinx RER service projects.
Advising the design-build joint venture to a short-listed bidder on the Gordie Howe International Bridge Project.
Advising Infrastructure Ontario and West Park Healthcare Centre on the West Park Healthcare Centre P3 Project.
Advising the facilities maintenance service provider to a short-listed bidder in connection with the Niagara Falls Entertainment Casino P3 Project.
Advising the O&M provider to a shortlisted bidder in connection with the Hurontario LRT Project.
Advising the Regional Municipality of Peel in connection with its Renewable Natural Gas Centre P3 Project.
Advising Infrastructure Ontario and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation in connection with the Highway 427 Expansion Project.
Advising Forum Equity Partners in its sale of part of its P3 portfolio to Fiera Infrastructure.
Advising SaskBuilds Corporation on the Regina Bypass Project.
Advising SaskBuilds Corporation on Nine Joint-Use Schools in Martensville, Regina, Saskatoon and Warman.
Advising the O&M contractor to a short-listed bidder in connection with the Edmonton LRT Valley Line Project.
Advising the Government of Nova Scotia in connection with the Alternative Service Delivery of vehicle, land and corporate registries.
Advising a major municipal region in the Greater Toronto Area in connection with a waste-to-energy P3 project.
Advising Forum Equity Partners in its acquisition of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P.'s interests in the Quinte Consolidated Courthouse and the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre Expansion projects.
Advising the successful bidder in connection with the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Cardiac Life Support Services Redevelopment Project.
Advising the bondholders to a DBFM project under construction in connection with significant proposal amendments to the project agreement and related documents.
Advising Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx in connection with the East Rail Maintenance Facility DBFM Project.
Advising the lenders to a short-listed bidder in connection with the Emily Carr University of Art + Design Redevelopment Project in Vancouver.
Advising the successful bidder in connection with the McMaster Children's Health Centre Project.
Advising the preferred proponent on the Regina Stadium Project.
Advising Metrolinx on the Union Station Rail Corridor Signalling Project.
Advising the facilities maintenance service provider to a short-listed bidder on the Swift Current Long-Term Care Project.
Advising the lenders to a short-listed bidder in connection with Cambridge Memorial Hospital Project in Ontario.
Advising the lenders to a short-listed bidder in connection with the B.C. Children’s Hospital and B.C. Women’s Hospital & Health Centre Redevelopment Project in Vancouver.
Advising the lenders to a short-listed bidder in connection with the McLoughlin Point Wastewater Treatment Plant Project in Victoria.
Advising a developer on a municipal Design-Build-Finance-Operate and Maintain (DBFOM) project involving water and wastewater facilities in northern Ontario.
Advising the Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority in connection with the procurement of two adult correctional facilities.
Advising Humber River Hospital in connection with a major P3 development project and related financing.
Advising a Canadian provincial government in connection with the refinancing of a major roads project.
Advising the OM&R contractor to a short-listed bidder in connection with the Waterloo Light Rapid Transit DBFOM Project.
Advising the design-build joint venture to a short-listed bidder in connection with the Sheppard Maintenance and Storage Facility AFP Project.
Advising the lenders to a short-listed bidder in connection with the Drivers Examination Services AFP Project.
Advising Infrastructure Ontario and Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning in connection with the Humber College Learning Resource Commons Project.
Advising the Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority in connection with the establishment of a public-private partnership for a juvenile correctional facility.
Advising a member of the design-build joint venture to a short-listed bidder in connection with the Ottawa LRT project.
Advising Infrastructure Ontario in connection with the review of AFP template agreements and documents.
Advising the lender to the successful bidder in connection with the Billy Bishop Toronto City Centre Airport Pedestrian Tunnel project.
Advising members of a short-listed consortium and DBJV bidding for the Highway 407 East Extension.
Advising the lenders to the successful bidder for the South West Detention Centre project in Windsor, Ontario which reached financial close in April 2011.
Advising the design-build joint venture to the successful bidder in connection with the Windsor-Essex Parkway.
Advising a short-listed consortium bidding for the Halton Healthcare Services New Oakville Hospital and Integrated Energy Services project in Ontario.
Advising short-listed consortia bidding for the St. Joseph’s Regional Mental Health Care project in Ontario and the Surrey Memorial Hospital project in British Columbia.
Advising the lenders to a short-listed consortium bidding for the Thunder Bay Consolidated Courthouse project in Ontario.
Advising the service provider to a short-listed consortium in connection with the Waterloo Region Consolidated Courthouse project and the BC Cancer Agency project.
Advising the successful consortia in the Fort St. John Hospital and the Royal Jubilee Hospital P3 projects in British Columbia.
Advising major international financial institutions acting as financial advisors and funders to consortia bidding for numerous Ontario P3 projects, including the North Bay Hospital, Sault Area Hospital, Niagara Health System, Archives of Ontario and Ontario New Data Centre projects.
Advising a major international infrastructure and construction company in its capacity as an equity sponsor to a short-listed bidder for the Port Mann Bridge DBFO project.
Selected Speaking Engagements
Heidi is a regular participant in conferences on project finance and infrastructure. Heidi has co-chaired workshops on P3 issues and presented at Insight and Lexpert conferences on P3 and infrastructure issues.
Heidi has taught the P3 segment of a senior-level project finance seminar at an Ontario law school.
Selected Publications
Co-authored the Canadian chapter in “The Public-Private Partnership Law Review – Edition 2,” Law Business Research Ltd., March 2016.
Co-authored an article titled "The Standardisation of Public-Private Partnership Documentation in Canada," Financier Worldwide, July 2009.
Education
- Silver Medallist, Ontario Bar Admission Course, 1990
- LLB, University of Toronto, 1988
- BA, York University, 1980