Women's College Partnership: Rating Report

DBRS Limited (DBRS) assigned a rating of “A” with a Stable trend to the $207.3 million Senior Secured Bonds (the Bonds) issued by Women’s College Partnership (ProjectCo). ProjectCo is a special-purpose entity created for the design, construction, financing, maintenance and rehabilitation of Women’s College Hospital (the Project) in Toronto under a Project Agreement with Women’s College Hospital (WCH or the Hospital) for a term of 30 years from scheduled interim completion. The Hospital is an ambulatory/outpatient facility focusing on women’s health issues and comprises a 40,295-square-metre (m2; 0.4 million square foot (sf)) ten-storey building and 18,561 m2 (0.2 million sf) of three-level below-grade parking. Supporting the rating are the low credit risk of the counterparties responsible for the availability-based payments to ProjectCo — namely, the Province of Ontario (rated AA (low) with a Stable trend by DBRS) and the Hospital; high resiliencies; relatively simple building and operations; and the lifecycle inspection and reserving mechanism. The credit profile is constrained by the high leverage carried by ProjectCo and complex contractual structure (although common in public-private partnerships with availability-based payments) and the service provider replacement risk.