Tab C: Financial Information

1. Financial Information – Main Estimates – INFC
2. Financial Information – Main Estimates – JCCBI
3. Financial Information – Main Estimates – WDBA
4. Flow and Lapse of Funds

1. Financial Information – Main Estimates – INFC

Topic

Infrastructure Canada is seeking total funding of $6.8 billion in the 2021-22 Main Estimates to support the Government of Canada's priorities in investing in public infrastructure.

Responsive lines

• INFC is seeking $6.8 billion in the 2021-22 Main Estimates:
  • $4.3 billion in grants and contributions to support 22 infrastructure programs;
  • $2.3 billion for the Gas Tax Fund;
  • $87.2 million to operate the Major Bridges, $4.4 million for contingencies for the Samuel de Champlain Bridge Corridor project and $33.6 million for land purchases tied to the Gordie Howe International Bridge; and
  • $97.4 million to operate the department.
• If asked to compare to previous year Main Estimates
  • Decrease in grant and contribution funding ($1.2 billion) tied to historical programs approaching their end of life cycle such as the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund and the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund;
  • Increase in statutory funding ($101.4 million) related to the Gas Tax Fund and employee benefit plan requirements;
  • Increase in capital funding ($33.6 million) for land purchases tied to the Gordie Howe International Bridge; and
• Increase in operating funding ($15.9 million): $8.0 million to operate the department as part of new and ongoing funding and $7.9 million to support the Major Bridges.

2. Financial Information – Main Estimates – JCCBI

Topic

Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated (JCCBI) is seeking $325.0 million in the 2021-22 Main Estimates, a <1% decrease compared to last year ($327.6 million).

Responsive lines

• Funding will ensure Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated has the appropriate resources to manage, operate and maintain the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, the Champlain Bridge Estacade (Ice Control Structure), the Nuns' Island Bypass Bridge, the Melocheville Tunnel and the federal sections of the Honoré Mercier Bridge and of the Bonaventure Expressway therefore ensuring a safe and efficient transport system to the public. JCCBI is also responsible for the deconstruction of the old Champlain Bridge.

3. Financial Information – Main Estimates – WDBA

Topic

Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) is seeking $971.6 million in the 2021-22 Main Estimates, a 25% increase ($193.0 million) compared to last year ($778.6 million).

Responsive lines

• With the design-build phase fully underway for the Gordie Howe International Bridge project, design is well advanced and construction progress has been achieved or is ongoing on all four components of the project.
• The $193.0 million will cover the increase in planned progress payments to Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority's private partner as the project continues to advance and construction progresses.

4. Flow and Lapse Of Funds

Topic

Why is so little funding flowing to recipients?

Responsive lines

• The Investing in Canada Plan is our long-term $180 billion plan to build the communities of the 21st century. The plan is on track - we are a third of the way through, with over a third of the funds committed.
• Once federal funding is approved for a project, it is available right away. However, it only flows when local partners submit their claims, often well after construction is underway.
• It is important to understand that the work that matters to Canadians, the “shovels in the ground”, happens well before a dollar of federal money is ever spent—under the majority of Infrastructure Canada's programs, construction work can begin once a project is approved. Our funds flow within days of receiving recipients' claims, which can happen after the work has been done.
• Infrastructure Canada wants work to happen and claims to be paid as quickly as possible, so we work in close collaboration with funding recipients to improve the flow of funds and better align departmental spending with construction activities.
• Despite best efforts to project flow of funding, many factors lead to the need for INFC to reprofile funding and ensure the federal infrastructure programs remains available to the project proponents in future years as committed.
  

Background

Gaps between the flow of funds and the initial objectives may be perceived as evidence of ineffectiveness on the part of the Government of Canada to deliver on the infrastructure portfolio. However, several factors contribute to real and perceived delays in the flow of federal funding.

[redacted] Although addressed in the newer programs, such as the Investing in Canada Plan; committed funds under older programs may still be impacted by this challenge.

In addition, the uncertainty of the Canadian construction season, limitations in work force availability, complexity inherent to multi-million and multi-billion dollar procurement, and changes in provincial, territorial, or municipal priorities are also specific to the Infrastructure domain and over which the federal government has a limited span of control.

With the current pandemic (COVID-19), it is anticipated that projects that had started prior to COVID-19 will continue to progress. While new projects may be delayed due to the shortage of labour, delays in supply chains, increased material costs and delays in Indigenous consultations due to travel restrictions in Indigenous communities.

On the other hand, INFC continues to work in close collaboration with recipients to improve the flow of funds and better align departmental spending with construction activities. Funding profiles for all existing infrastructure programs will continue to be formally updated twice a year through a call letter process and as information becomes available throughout the year to reflect the anticipated amounts to be claimed by recipients.

Considering the above, a more appropriate metric by which federal success should be measured with respect to infrastructure investments, is funds committed as opposed to the rate at which funding is flowed.