WSP Posts Record $14.5B Backlog as Power Work Outpaces Public Delays
WSP’s backlog hit a record CA$20.3 billion ($14.5 billion) in the third quarter, up about 24% year over year, as power and infrastructure demand held even with slower public-sector project starts, Construction Dive reports.
Market Impact
CEO Alexandre L’Heureux told analysts on Thursday’s earnings call that the issue is pace, not demand. Since the second quarter, he said, WSP has seen longer gaps between project award, funding authorization and the start of public-sector work. He blamed federal funding reviews by the Government Accountability Office and permitting reform. He called infrastructure “a buoyant market” and said the firm has seen U.S. backlog growth.
WSP reported CA$5.3 billion in Q3 revenue, up about 16.6% from Q3 2025. Net earnings were CA$333.7 million, up about 17% from CA$284.5 million. L’Heureux said he expects the Dec. 11 deadline on Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding to be extended so the new Congress can review its plans. Democrats took both chambers in the recent midterms.
Power is the other driver. American Electric Power picked WSP last week as a delivery partner for projects in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. TRC Companies, which WSP agreed to buy in 2025 for $3.3 billion in cash, posted double-digit net revenue growth in power and energy over the first nine months of 2026, per the firm.
L’Heureux separated the power thesis from data centers. Only a small part of WSP’s substation design and transmission modernization work relates to them, he said, and many U.S. transmission lines have reached the end of their useful life. “All of that will have to be replaced irrespective of data centers,” he said. Tutor Perini struck a similar note on its own call this week.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- AEP’s four-state footprint (TX, OK, AR, LA): WSP’s delivery-partner role means design and program work is underway. The source doesn’t give package sizes or release dates. Our inference is that construction packages typically follow design work by several months to over a year, though timing varies by project. Update safety records, insurance and bonding documents now so you can respond when packages are released.
- Substation and transmission trades: Civil and foundation crews, electrical contractors and line crews are the likely beneficiaries of aging-line replacement. L’Heureux says that demand does not depend on data centers, which may make it less exposed to swings in data center demand.
- Public-sector civil work: Longer gaps between award, funding authorization and notice to proceed mean a won bid is not yet billable work. Build those gaps into cash-flow plans and crew commitments for Q1, and hold off on staffing up until funding is authorized.
- Dec. 11 IIJA funding date: L’Heureux expects an extension, but that is his view, not a certainty. If you carry highway, bridge or water work funded under the act, ask your prime or owner before that date how an extension or lapse would affect your schedule.
- Data center-heavy pipelines: WSP says its power work does not hinge on data centers, and Tutor Perini struck a similar note on its own call. If most of your backlog depends on data center work, line up utility transmission and substation prequalifications as a hedge.
