Despite spending over $31 billion to renew existing infrastructure assets, 10 times that amount would be needed to rehabilitate or replace existing core public infrastructure to bring the rating of all assets to “good,” reports Statistics Canada.
Basing its analysis on its latest survey on the subject, Canada’s Core Public Infrastructure Survey: Required renewal budgets, 2022, the government agency says that owners of core public infrastructure estimated the price to rehabilitate or replace existing core public infrastructure in Canada to upgrade or maintain assets in good condition was $294.4 billion in 2022.
Although $31.3 billion was invested in 2022 to renew existing assets – roughly 11 per cent of required renewal budgets – there was a decrease in the share of assets in good or very good condition from 59 per cent in 2020 to 55 per cent in this most recent set of sector statistics.
At $160.8 billion, transportation infrastructure, which includes roads, bridges, tunnels, active transportation networks and public transit assets, accounted for over half of the required renewal budgets in 2022. That share was higher in rural municipalities than in urban municipalities, with rural communities devoting 61 per cent of their renewal budgets, compared to 48 per cent for urban communities.
Rural municipalities require more investments per capita to maintain their assets in good working condition. While less than one-fifth (18 per cent) of Canada’s population lived in rural areas in 2021, these areas accounted for almost one-third of municipalities’ required renewal budgets in 2022.
| Asset type | Estimated replacement value | Required renewal budget | Actual renewal expenditures |
| Road assets | $1,162,431.3 | $108,959.3 | $11,393.0 |
| Bridge and tunnel assets | $294,895.8 | $21,866.4 | $1,743.5 |
| Public transit assets | $112,156.1 | $19,838.7 | $3,637.0 |
| Active transportation | $62,602.5 | $10,127.1 | $623.3 |
| Potable water assets | $357,316.4 | $41,948.9 | $4,343.9 |
| Wastewater assets | $359,045.5 | $39,045.3 | $4,826.7 |
| Stormwater assets | $246,645.8 | $32,532.6 | $1,710.5 |
| Culture, recreation and sports facilities | $154,052.0 | $18,337.1 | $2,267.9 |
