Appearance before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts

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Investing in Canada Plan – Status Update

Topic

Through the Investing in Canada plan, the Government of Canada is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public infrastructure to build inclusive, connected and resilient communities across Canada.

Key messages

• The Investing in Canada plan has committed over $81 billion and supported thousands of projects across the country that are building stronger, more inclusive communities and generating regional and national economic growth. The Plan is delivered through 93 programs and managed by 21 federal departments and agencies.
• Infrastructure Canada works closely with participating departments to provide Canadians with easy-to-access information about the implementation of the Plan, including a project list and an online project map, which allows Canadians to see projects that are being built in their communities.
• In response to COVID-19, the Government of Canada created the new temporary COVID-19 Resilience stream, with over $3 billion available in existing funding, to provide provinces and territories with added flexibility to fund quick-start, short-term projects that might not otherwise be eligible under the existing funding streams. To date, nine provinces have submitted projects under this stream, with over 1317 projects approved and the large majority of them (84%) approved by Infrastructure Canada within 20 business days. This will be critical for job creation and recovery.
• Infrastructure investment will be a cornerstone as we respond to COVID-19 and prepare to “build back better” in a post-pandemic recovery.
• The Investing in Canada plan provides a basis on which to build a refreshed and renewed infrastructure agenda. We have already begun to do so with a historic commitment to permanent public transit funding, Universal Broadband Fund and other initiatives.
• In response to the recommendation by the Office of the Auditor General, we are examining how we can improve our reporting mechanisms; as we continue to deliver programs and funding under the Plan, we recognize that progress measurement will increasingly place an emphasis on achieving national outcomes. We will measure this progress through a National Infrastructure Assessment.

Background

The Investing in Canada plan comprises $95.6 billion in new funding for infrastructure programs, committed in Budgets 2016 and 2017. Additionally, the Plan is designed to deliver $92.2 billion through pre-Budget 2016 programs.

Infrastructure Canada reports on the Plan's progress via an online funding table, geomap and project list. It also reports annually on progress against the Plan's objectives through a supplementary horizontal initiatives table as part of Infrastructure Canada's Departmental Results Report. In addition, a progress report is produced that highlights the progress and results achieved under the Plan, highlighting the impacts it has on communities across Canada.

Response to COVID-19

Programs under the Plan are being modified to increase flexibility, in order to address new concerns in light of COVID-19. For example, the Canada Healthy Communities Initiative (CHCI) will provide up to $31 million in existing federal funding to support communities as they deploy new ways to adapt spaces and services to respond to immediate and ongoing needs arising from COVID-19 over the next two years.

Additionally, the Government of Canada is adapting the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program to respond to the impacts of COVID-19. A new temporary COVID-19 Resilience stream, with over $3 billion available in existing funding, has been created to provide provinces and territories with added flexibility to fund quick-start, short-term projects that might not otherwise be eligible under existing funding streams.