Strengthening Canada’s Infrastructure for a Sustainable Future
Infrastructure is the backbone of our towns and cities. It is central to attracting investment and ensuring that existing businesses can grow and thrive. It helps ensure that communities are prepared to face challenges today and into the future. Above all, it is what makes our communities great places to live.
Two years ago, our government took office with a commitment to build stronger, more sustainable, and more inclusive communities. We promised a collaborative approach, whereby we would work with our provincial, territorial, Indigenous, and municipal partners to shape a national plan and trust local decisionmakers to identify their priorities within it.
Canada is a vast, diverse country, with a great range of infrastructure needs. Unfortunately, a lack of federal leadership and years of underinvestment have resulted in a significant infrastructure deficit. To address this situation, and ensure that we are building communities where everyone has an opportunity to succeed, our government is making historic investments in Canada’s infrastructure.
“Infrastructure is so much more than just concrete and steel.”
To date, we have announced more than 3,700 projects with a combined total investment of over $12.9 billion. These investments will not only create well-paying jobs, grow the middle class, and generate long-term economic growth, but will improve Canadians’ quality of life today and for generations to come. We have funded projects that make our communities more inclusive, more accessible, and more liveable, while improving sustainability and resilience.
This translates into real and tangible progress for municipalities across the country. For example, investments in public transit have resulted in more than 800 older buses being replaced by newer, more efficient vehicles, and almost 500 new para-transit buses that “Infrastructure is so much more than just concrete and steel.” offer transit solutions to those unable to use traditional services. Thanks to our Clean Water and Wastewater Fund, over 2,275 small communities saw improvements to their water, wastewater, and stormwater management systems, leading to more reliable services and better environmental practices. Over 14% of these projects helped address critical issues of over 290 First Nation, Metis, and northern communities.
This is only the beginning. We are committed to working in partnership with provinces, territories, and municipalities to invest in infrastructure that will build the communities Canadians want and need. Our 12-year, $186 billion Investing in Canada plan will guide these investments and ensure that communities receive the long-term, predictable funding they need.
Over the next 11 years, the Investing in Canada plan will focus on five key areas: public transit, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, rural and northern communities, and trade and transportation corridors. Our objective is to invest in projects that will transform communities across the county, such as light-rail transit, renewable power, and child care.
Infrastructure is more than just concrete and steel. Reliable and high quality infrastructure is essential to the well-being of our country. As a government, we have a responsibility not only to the Canadians of today, but to those of tomorrow. That is why the Investing in Canada plan is not simply about investing in infrastructure, but about working with our partners to build a greener, more sustainable, efficient, and productive Canada that will prosper for decades to come.
The Honourable Amarjeet Sohi is the Member of Parliament for Edmonton—Mill Woods and the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities.