Authors: Casey Vander Ploeg and Ben Brunnen
Urban infrastructure in Canada has become a serious issue, as reflected by the $564 million dollar deficit of the six big western Canadian cities. This number is estimated to rise in the future, based on reports from most big cities, likely contributing to an infrastructure debt for the country that may reach $130 billion.
With that issue in mind, the objective of A Capital Question is to set recent estimates of infrastructure deficits and debt in context through the examination of 40 years of public capital spending made by the total and municipal government sector and five of the West’s biggest cities. The report addresses the areas in which the deficit reside, discusses the action that cities plan on taking to tackle the issue, and identifies the potential cost of failing to act.
A Capital Question is a component of the Canada West Foundation’s Western Cities Project, under the Financing Urban Infrastructure Initiative. It is authored by Senior Policy Analyst, Casey Vander Ploeg, along with Policy Analyst, Ben Brunnen, of the Foundation.