Ontario Construction News staff writer
Despite ranking fourth globally in annual infrastructure spending at US$145 billion, Canada invests just 6.6 per cent of GDP on infrastructure, well below the 7.4 per cent invested by peers, according to a new report from PwC Canada. Closing the gap requires an additional US$34 billion a year by 2050, the report says.
The report, Mobilizing Canada’s US$4.7 trillion Infrastructure Opportunity, drawing on a new Oxford Economics forecast, says that how effectively Canada captures the opportunity will depend not just on how much it invests, but on how those investments come together.
According to the report, realizing the opportunity requires a shift from silos to systems, moving from planning roads, power grids, digital networks, and community infrastructure as separate projects to building them as connected systems.
“Canada’s energy strategy, its defence commitments, its critical minerals potential, and its digital ambitions are being treated as separate conversations. They’re not. They’re one infrastructure challenge,” said Johanne Mullen, national leader of real assets at the accounting and consulting firm.
The report identifies three shifts Canada can make:
- From isolated assets to integrated systems: Multi-use infrastructure delivers broader economic value and attracts more diverse capital because cost and risk are shared across multiple users. This makes projects more feasible at a time when public budgets alone cannot close the gap.
- From traditional funding to shared capital structures: Canada’s fiscal position is constrained, making private capital essential. The report outlines approaches including blended public-private investment, and Indigenous communities participating as long-term economic partners through revenue sharing, expanded procurement, and equity ownership, supported by programs such as the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program. These approaches are emerging but not yet the norm.
- From legacy delivery to workforce readiness: Canada is not producing enough tradespeople to meet today’s demand, much less future needs. The report points to models such as Germany’s dual-track programs, which combine professional degrees with trade certifications, and Singapore’s dedicated technical institutes.
Capturing the infrastructure value:
- Resources:Growth in this sector is increasingly driven by multi-use projects, rising global demand, geopolitical shifts, and Canada’s role as a stable, reliable supplier.
- Transportation: While spending on roads and bridges dominates, significant investment is flowing into passenger rail expansion and freight corridors connecting commodity sources to global markets.
- Power: Renewables lead at US$272 billion, with nuclear adding US$86 billion. Grid connections between provinces and territories remain fragmented, and Canada’s nuclear investment growth (11 per cent) trails the U.S. (17 per cent).
- Defence: Canada’s fastest-growing sector, driven by NATO commitments, Arctic security, and the country’s pledge of an additional 1.5 per cent of GDP for defence and security investments.
- Digital:Canada has key advantages for data centres, including land, water, renewable power, and a cold climate, but is projected to lag the U.K. and Australia in cumulative data centre investment by 24–28 per cent.
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