Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen members of the committee, good morning.
As Mr. Cory said, my name is Frédéric Duguay, and I am the general counsel and secretary of the Canada Infrastructure Bank, and I have been in this position since November 2018. I am pleased to be here as a witness in your study of the role of McKinsey & Company in the creation and beginnings of the CIB. To contribute to the committee's study, my remarks will focus on the procurement process and policies in place during CIB's startup activities and the contracts awarded to McKinsey & Company.
As a Crown corporation, the CIB is not subject to Treasury Board policies and regulations governing procurement activities. Consistent with the approach taken by Crown corporations, the CIB establishes its own policies and procedures to make its procurement activities more efficient and responsive to its needs to ensure that the CIB obtains the goods and services required for its operations.
The CIB also aims to be transparent to Canadians about its operations and decision-making processes, while respecting confidential information. To this end, our procurement policy incorporates best practices in the public sector and is available on the CIB's website. Amounts spent on professional fees are disclosed in the audited financial statements and our executive compensation policies are disclosed in the CIB's annual report to Parliament.
As mentioned by Mr. Cory, and as disclosed to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, the CIB has awarded three contracts to McKinsey since its creation in June 2017. The first two contracts were awarded in winter of 2018 under the interim procurement policy put in place for the CIB's startup activities. The principles of this policy took into account the timeline for hiring staff and receiving investment proposals, and the processes needed to make quick procurement decisions.
The first contract awarded in January 2018 was for investment consulting services to support the development of investment criteria. The value of this contract was $390,000. In keeping with the flexibility provided by the interim policy, the CIB leadership also identified other consultants to provide their qualifications. McKinsey was selected based on its expertise in infrastructure and investment projects in Canada and abroad.
The second contract was awarded in March 2018 to develop the enterprise risk management function, and practices to ensure appropriate management of investments and other risks. The total professional fee for this contract was $550,000. CIB executives also discussed the mandate with other consultants.
The final contract was awarded to McKinsey in May 2020 to provide consulting services to identify new strategic opportunities given the impact of the COVID‑19 pandemic. Deliverables included research on the Canadian infrastructure market, case studies on infrastructure and economic impacts and interviews with industry experts. This work was used to develop the $10 billion growth plan that was announced in October 2020 to invest in major infrastructure initiatives. The value of this contract was $490,000 and the contract was awarded in accordance with the exceptions allowed under CIB policies in force and applicable free trade agreements.
Finally, the CIB's procurement policies follow best practices in public-sector corporate governance to ensure that purchases are made in a fair and transparent manner and the CIB receives the best value for goods and services.
I would be happy to answer any questions.
Thank you very much for inviting me today.