Province grilled over Therme's credentials to build luxury spa at Ontario Place

Adam Carter · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 16, 2025 1:30 PM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Critics are erstwhile again slamming the provincial government's program to physique a luxury spa connected the erstwhile tract of Ontario Place — this clip implicit allegations that the institution acceptable to tally the multi-billion-dollar task misrepresented itself and exaggerated its acquisition successful bid to unafraid the deal.

Those claims are portion of a New York Times story, based connected firm filings successful 3 countries and interviews with a twelve radical progressive successful Therme's operations, which recovered that the institution falsely presented itself arsenic having operated arsenic galore arsenic fractional a twelve spas successful Europe, erstwhile successful world it had lone built and operated conscionable one.

The study besides says that arsenic the European institution was pitching its imaginativeness for the premier lakefront property, it was losing wealth and had little than $1.6 cardinal successful equity.

CBC News has not independently verified those findings and has reached retired to Therme for comment.

At Queen's Park Wednesday, Liberal MPP John Fraser said the reporting was "stunning" — as it uncovered a institution with 1 tiny spa, a cardinal dollars successful equity, and an "interconnected web of ammunition companies."

"Yet someway they convinced the premier that they had a planetary way record. It didn't conscionable agelong the truth, it led the premier down the plot way — and Infrastructure Ontario signed close disconnected connected it," Fraser said.

"So wherefore did the premier greenlight a 95-year-deal with a institution that inflated its portfolio and couldn't walk a basal fiscal sniff test?"

WATCH | What the AG study connected Ontario Place found: 

In response, Minister of Infrastructure Kinga Surma said that Therme passed the fiscal trial conducted by Infrastructure Ontario, which she called a "world-renowned, arms-length agency."

Pressed successful further questions, Surma repeatedly pivoted to talking astir the fig of jobs that would be created some done operation and cognition of the spa.

Surma besides said the state has "done this creation already," erstwhile it comes to questioning the project, mentioning audits and a caller review.

In a study from precocious past year, the province's auditor wide recovered that the outgo of the redevelopment of Ontario Place has ballooned by much than $1.8 billion, and the process for selecting caller tenants for the prized lakefront spot wasn't transparent oregon fair.

Fraser asked Wednesday if Premier Doug Ford would propulsion retired this deal, similar helium did erstwhile helium chopped ties with Elon Musk's Starlink, oregon erstwhile the state backed distant from its redevelopment plans for The Greenbelt.

"No, we volition not," Surma responded, again lauding Infrastructure Ontario's credentials.