CANADA: Toronto Transit Commission completed negotiations on technical details and commercial arrangements with three potential suppliers of 204 low-floor trams by January 5. Alstom, Bombardier and Siemens were then given seven weeks to submit their final prices to TTC, which will recommend a winner to the nine-member commission. A final decision on the C$1·25bn contract is expected in April.

TTC rejected the only two bids submitted last year under its first request for proposals. On August 27 2008, TTC formally reopened the procurement process, using a multi-phase approach, and invited Alstom, Bombardier and Siemens to participate. The technical requirements of the original RFP were unchanged and all three companies said they could build a tram that meets those requirements.