Canada’s cities and smaller communities are facing a looming crisis in deferred maintenance and construction of critical infrastructure, both physical and social. Indeed, eight years into the Federal government’s Investing in Canada Plan, Canada's infrastructure deficit is estimated at a minimum of $150B, and up to a trillion dollars.
The lack of this critical urban infrastructure – from roads and water systems to transit, parks, and public housing – weakens Canada’s global competitiveness. And it doesn’t just undermine the potential for place-based prosperity, but also weakens civic infrastructure. Faltering community support systems have led to a mental health and drug addiction crisis and a decline in civic engagement, undermining the culture of collective care and connection that used to define Canada. Addressing the infrastructure deficit is key to bolstering democracy, and will require multi-solving, cross-sectoral investments from both provincial and federal governments.
The chapters in this report, commissioned from experts and researchers across Canada, tackle these issues and explore ways forward.
For a forward from Karen Chapple, Director of School of Cities at the University of Toronto and Mary W. Rowe, President and CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute, click the button below.
Read the Forward
Chapter 1

Making Up for Lost Time

Strategic infrastructure development for growth and resilience

This introductory chapter discusses the evolution of Canadian infrastructure policy since the WWII, outlines the critical role of infrastructure in economic productivity and innovation, and explores how civic infrastructure facilitates interaction across different income and ethnic groups.

  • Kathryn Exon Smith, Senior Research Officer, School of Cities, University of Toronto
  • Karen Chapple, Director, School of Cities and Professor, Department of Geography & Planning, University of Toronto
  • Drew Fagan, Professor, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto
  • Matti Siemiatycki, Director, Infrastructure Institute and Professor, Department of Geography & Planning University of Toronto
Read Chapter 1
Making Up for Lost Time Strategic infrastructure development for growth and resilience
Chapter 2

Toward an Open Database of Public Land Ownership

A key to addressing housing affordability challenges in Canadian cities

Canada’s capacity to develop an equitable response to the housing affordability crisis depends on having access to information about public lands. Through partnerships with 13 localities across Canada, the authors found that there are only a few instances of truly open and accessible data on public lands – a serious hinderance to constructing new affordable housing infrastructure reliant on free or low-cost land.

  • James Connolly, Associate Professor, School of Community and Regional Planning, University of British Columbia
  • Sean Grisdale, PhD candidate, Department of Geography, Geomatics, and the Environment, University of Toronto and Fellow, Institute of Municipal Finance and Governance
  • Cameron Power, Planning Analyst, City of Vancouver
  • Alexandra Flynn, Associate Professor and Director, Housing Research Collaborative, Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia
  • Craig Jones, Associate Director, Housing Research Collaborative, Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia
  • Andrew Rigsby, Data Access and Engagement Manager, Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART), University of British Columbia
  • Alan Walks, Professor, Department of Geography & Planning, University of Toronto
Read Chapter 2
Toward an Open Database of Public Land Ownership A Key to Addressing Housing Affordability Challenges in Canadian Cities
Chapter 3

Immigration, Housing, and Infrastructure Deficits in the Urban North

Situating northern immigration policy and equitable prosperity within a context of chronic housing need

This chapter shows that the northern housing crisis, in tandem with northern immigration policy, reveals critical deficits in infrastructure in northern Canada and vulnerabilities in the capacity of the North to promote equity in Indigenous home sovereignties and sustainably welcome newcomers.

  • Yolande Pottie-Sherman, Professor, Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador
  • Julia Christensen, Associate Professor, Department Geography and Planning, Queen’s University
Read Chapter 3
Immigration Housing and Infrastructure Deficits in the Urban North
Chapter 4

Between Expansion and Preemption

Canadian municipal powers in an age of infrastructure deficit

This chapter explores the status of municipal powers in Canada amidst ongoing and complex legislative and judicial changes, focusing on the infrastructure deficit and highlighting two conflicting trends – expansion and preemption, whereby provinces and courts have significantly expanded municipal powers but municipalities still frequently encounter reminders of their subordination to provincial control.

  • Benoît Frate, Associate Professor, Department of Urban Studies and Tourism, Université du Québec à Montréal
  • David Robitaille, Professor and Associate Dean (Academic), Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
Read Chapter 4
Between Expansion and Preemption Canadian Municipal Powers in an Age of Infrastructure Deficit
Chapter 5

Pathways to Resilience

Addressing the housing crisis in Canada’s North

This chapter recognizes the power of recent housing initiatives by Indigenous-led organizations, and argues for transformational change to build more resilience through policy integration, and investment in affordable housing to open pathways towards reconciliation and improve economic and social opportunities.

  • Sasha Tsenkova, Professor, School of Architecture, Planning & Landscape, University of Calgary
  • Kristel Derkowski, Manager of Research and Development, Taylor Architecture Group, Yellowknife
  • Simon Taylor, Principal and owner, Taylor Architecture Group, Yellowknife
Read Chapter 5
Pathways to Resilience Addressing the Housing Crisis in Canadas North
Chapter 6

Constraints on Social Infrastructure Facing Newcomer Communities in Halifax

This chapter examines how newcomers engage with community spaces, the challenges faced by organizations in developing and maintaining social infrastructure, and the capacity of existing community gathering spaces for newcomers in Halifax, and makes recommendations pertaining to infrastructure planning for Halifax Regional Municipality.

  • Jeffrey Biggar, Assistant Professor, School of Planning, Dalhousie University
  • J.A Veloso, Recent graduate, Master of Planning, Dalhousie University
  • Yolande Pottie-Sherman, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador
Read Chapter 6
Constraints on Social Infrastructure Facing Newcomer Communities in Halifax

Canada’s Infrastructure Deficit: What’s needed

The School of Cities' latest video looks at the gap between Canada’s current infrastructure and what we need in order to grow our economies and communities. Our decisions about infrastructure investment need to be based on data and evidence, and spending shouldn’t be ad hoc and only aimed at filing in the gaps.
Chapter 7

Community Media Infrastructures and “the Right to Know and Tell” in Canadian Cities

Through a case study of FOCUS Media Arts Centre in Toronto, the author shows how hyper-local groups respond to the gaps in news and media infrastructures by producing representative alternative media in various accessible formats; training residents in media production and literacy; circulating community-based non-English information; and creating informal, trustworthy mechanisms for hyperlocal information exchange and organizing.

  • Aditi Mehta, Assistant Professor, Urban Studies, University of Toronto
Read Chapter 7
Community Media Infrastructures and the Right to Know and Tell in Canadian Cities
Chapter 8

Moving Healthy Cities Forward

The state of cycling infrastructure in Canada

In this chapter, the authors look at deficits in health-promoting infrastructure in Canada by focusing on one aspect of what makes a healthy city – cycling infrastructure – and presenting evidence on its health benefits and reviewing the current state of cycling infrastructure in four Canadian cities.

  • Daniel Fuller, Associate Professor, Community Health and Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan
  • Meghan Winters, Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University & CIHR/PHAC Applied Public Health Research Chair
  • Yan Kestens, Professor, École de santé publique, l’Université de Montréal
  • Hiroshi Mamiya, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, School of Population and Global Health, McGill University
  • Meridith Sones, Knowledge Mobilization Manager, INTERACT
  • Benoît Thierry, GIS Specialist, INTERACT
  • Zoé Poirier Stephens, Research Manager, INTERACT
Read Chapter 8
Moving Healthy Cities Forward The State of Cycling Infrastructure in Canada
Chapter 9

Enhancing Equity in Transportation Infrastructure Planning

An analysis of disparities in spatial access to select destinations in Canada

This chapter evaluates access to schools, grocery stores, employment, healthcare, sport and recreation facilities, cultural venues, and post-secondary institutions, using sustainable transportation modes (walking, cycling, and public transit) and focusing on five populations who may experience transportation burdens: extreme commuters, low-income and housing-burdened households, and Black and Indigenous peoples. The research compares outcomes across large urban areas to provide a comprehensive snapshot of accessibility dynamics.

  • Jaimy Fischer, Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Human Geography, UTSC and Knowledge Mobilization Lead, Mobilizing Justice
  • Brenn Anderson-Gregson, PhD candidate, Department of Planning, UTSC
  • Steven Farber, Professor, Human Geography, UTSC and Lead, Mobilizing Justice
  • Ignacio Tiznado-Aitken, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography & Planning, University of Toronto and Associate Director, Mobilizing Justice
  • Antonio Paez, Professor, School of Earth, Environment and Society, McMaster University
  • Meghan Winters, Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
  • Ben Woodward, MSc candidate, Faculty of Science, University of Waterloo
  • Alex Smith, Education and Research Group, Esri Canada
Read Chapter 9
Enhancing Equity in Transportation Infrastructure Planning
Chapter 10

Understanding the Drivers of Transit Construction Costs in Canada

A comparative study

This chapter delves into Metrolinx's project portfolio in the Toronto area, comparing it with transit initiatives in global cities, categorizing expenses into soft and hard costs, and identifying specific cost drivers linked to project scope and design choices. Comparisons with peer cases reveal four primary cost-driving factors – design choices, procurement, risk management practices, and external constraints – and the authors propose reforms in project planning, delivery, and cost estimation that can be implemented across Canada.

  • Jedwin Mok, Research Fellow, Metrolinx
  • Balthazar Crane, Senior Transportation Planner, Metrolinx
  • Marco Chitti, FRQSC Postdoctoral Researcher, McGill University and Fellow, Marron Institute of Urban Management, New York University
  • Amer Shalaby, Professor and Bahen/Tanenbaum Chair in Civil Engineering, University of Toronto and founding Director of the Transit Analytics Lab
Read Chapter 10
Understanding the Drivers of Transit Construction Costs in Canada A Comparative Study
Chapter 11

Democratic access to our cities

The impacts of recent changes to transit services in major Canadian metropolitan areas

This chapter reports changes in public transit service in Canada’s 12 largest census metro areas and assesses transit accessibility levels to jobs and groceries – showing how levels changed spatially and for people in different income levels and highlighting how changes in service levels impact accessibility to important destinations.

  • João Pedro Parga, PhD candidate, Department of Geography & Planning, University of Toronto
  • Anastasia Soukhov, PhD candidate, School of Earth, Environment and Society, McMaster University
  • Robert Nutifafa Arku, PhD candidate, Department of Geography & Planning, University of Toronto
  • Christopher Higgins, Assistant Professor, Department of Human Geography, UTSC & Department of Geography & Planning, University of Toronto
  • Antonio Paez, Professor, School of Earth, Environment and Society, McMaster University
Read Chapter 11
Democratic Access to our Cities The Impacts of Recent Changes to Transit Services in Major Canadian Metropolitan Areas
Chapter 12

Water Infrastructure Renewal Policies to Enable Equitable and Sustainable Prosperity

Using publicly available pipe data from neighbourhoods in 11 cities across four Canadian provinces, this chapter evaluates the influence of neighbourhood-level urban design on the per capita embodied emissions of water, sanitary, and stormwater networks, and finds that emissions go down when population density goes up and when the percentage of single-family homes decreases.

  • Chaitanya Ahuja, MASc candidate, Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto
  • Shoshanna Saxe, Associate Professor, Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto & Canada Research Chair (Tier II), Sustainable Infrastructure
  • David Meyer, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering & Centre for Global Engineering, University of Toronto
Read Chapter 12
Water Infrastructure Renewal Policies to Enable Equitable and Sustainable Prosperity

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