Building stronger communities and improving quality of life for all Canadians

Concrete results and benefits achieved through the Investing in Canada infrastructure plan

Ottawa, Ontario, May 9, 2019 — Infrastructure investments create well-paying, middle-class jobs and set the stage for long-term economic growth that benefits all Canadians. They also make communities better places to live, resulting in a higher quality of life for all Canadians now and for future generations.

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, today provided an update on the Government’s progress in renewing the nation’s public infrastructure through the over $180-billion Investing in Canada plan. These investments are creating jobs for Canadians, attracting talent and investment, supporting innovation, addressing climate change and its impacts, and increasing opportunities for all Canadians while strengthening communities across the country.

Since 2016, more than 48,000 infrastructure projects, worth a total of $42.3 billion, have been approved. Of these projects, almost all are either underway, or already completed.

These investments are already making a significant difference in the lives of Canadians by:

• Providing employment opportunities to over 100,000 Canadians on average each year;
• Providing public transit users with 100,000 additional seats to help them get to their destinations by funding more than 8,500 new or refurbished buses;
• Providing more Canadians with cleaner water and a healthier environment by funding more than 2,800 water and wastewater management projects;
• Lifting more than 80 long-term drinking water advisories on First Nations reserves;
• Providing more affordable housing for Canadians most in need by building or renovating more than 174,000 low-cost housing units;
• Renewing research labs and training facilities at universities, colleges and polytechnic institutions across Canada by funding more than 300 projects;
• Establishing an extra 40,000 new child-care spaces by 2020 by creating accessible, affordable and high-quality facilities for early learning and child care;
• Building communities where more Canadians can live, work and play in a global and digital economy by installing more than 19,500 kilometres of fibre-optic cable to provide high-speed internet connections in more than 900 rural and remote communities; and
• Promoting the values of openness, diversity and inclusion by building, improving and repairing over 1,600 community centres, recreational centres, cultural facilities and community spaces.

Details of the many accomplishments are outlined in a new report released today called Building a Better Canada: Progress Report on the Investing in Canada Plan 2016-2019. This report demonstrates how the Plan’s goals are being met: achieving steady, long-term economic growth, improving the resilience of communities, and creating an economy and society that work for all Canadians so that they can build a better future for themselves and their children.