WSP Posts Record CA$20.3 Billion Backlog Despite Washington Delays

WSP's backlog hit a record CA$20.3 billion ($14.5 billion) in the third quarter, up roughly 24% year over year, even as its CEO acknowledged that Washington is slowing projects down before they start.

CEO Alexandre L'Heureux delivered both messages on the firm's Q3 earnings call Thursday. The business is strong. The paperwork is not.

"Since our second quarter results, we have longer timeframes between project award, funding authorization and the start of work" in the public sector, L'Heureux told analysts. He blamed federal funding reviews by the Government Accountability Office and permitting reform for the lag.

"Look, since the administration was elected in late '24, as you've seen and witnessed, there's been a lot of changes in priorities by this administration, certainly in the infrastructure spend," L'Heureux said.

What happens to IIJA funding?

The delays prompted several analysts to press for specifics. One asked about the fate of extended Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding, which runs up to Dec. 11.

"Look, I don't have a crystal ball, and I'm not a political expert. I can only tell you what I think is going to happen," L'Heureux said. "I think December 11 will get extended for the new Congress to review what they intend to do and the negotiation they intend to have with the president."

WSP is watching client and funding authorizations, along with the fallout from the midterms, which handed Democrats both chambers of Congress. Builders now wait on two unknowns: data center construction trends and national infrastructure funding.

L'Heureux, for his part, isn't sweating the fundamentals.

"I think it's a buoyant market. The demand is there. More importantly, the needs are there, and we have seen backlog growth in the U.S. market," he said.

Why power, not data centers

WSP remains bullish on power and energy, a stance it carried over from its Q2 call. "At the same time, the structural drivers in power and energy continue to strengthen, fueled by electrification, energy capacity and the need to modernize aging grids," L'Heureux said.

The wins are concrete. American Electric Power picked WSP as a delivery partner last week for projects in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. "This is an important strategic win for our U.S. business and demonstrates the type of long-duration client relationship we believe our expanded power and energy platform can increasingly capture," L'Heureux said.

TRC Companies, which WSP agreed to buy in 2025 for $3.3 billion in cash, is another bright spot. TRC's power and energy market posted double-digit net revenue growth in the first nine months of 2026 compared with the pre-acquisition period, per the firm.

On data centers, L'Heureux kept his distance — echoing heavy civil contractor Tutor Perini, which made a similar pivot on its own call this week.

"Our thesis around our power and energy sector is not related to data centers," L'Heureux said. Only a small share of WSP's substation design and transmission modernization work touches those structures. He noted that many U.S. transmission lines have reached the end of their useful lifespan. "All of that will have to be replaced irrespective of data centers," he said.

The numbers behind the confidence

The quarter backed the talk:

• Backlog: CA$20.3 billion ($14.5 billion), up approximately 24% year over year — a record.
• Revenue: CA$5.3 billion, up approximately 16.6% from Q3 2025.
• Net earnings: CA$333.7 million, up approximately 17% from CA$284.5 million in Q3 2025.

"The world's infrastructure needs are becoming larger, more complex, and more interconnected, precisely the environment in which WSP's scale, technical depth and global platform create the greatest value," L'Heureux said.

The wager, in short: aging grids and federal gridlock both pay, as long as the money eventually moves.