OTTAWA — The Canadian Global Cities Council (CGCC) has released a report arguing Canada’s major metropolitan areas would benefit from a national urban strategy that would support long-range infrastructure planning and funding to accommodate growth.
Released Feb. 13, Planning for an Urban Future: Our Call for a National Urban Strategy for Canada, proposes a shift from Canada’s current ad hoc approach to federal investments in Canada’s major metros to one that aligns investments with regional priorities to accommodate growth and competitiveness, a media statement said.
“The economic competitiveness of Canadian cities depends on the quality and capacity of urban social, transport and economic infrastructure,” said Jan De Silva, president and CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade and 2018 chair of the council, in the statement.
“Without an ongoing planning process and coherent funding strategy for infrastructure, Canada is falling behind other countries. This impacts business competitiveness, job growth and quality of life.”
A new National Urban Strategy would lead to three broad policy changes:
- The federal government would take the lead in measuring infrastructure quality, disseminating best practices and identifying national urban policy goals. It would assign these roles to a central agency, or an office in an existing ministry. At present, measuring infrastructure maintenance shortfalls is left to a mix of provincial agencies and non-profits with no national standard.
- City and regional leaders would lead the development of long-range priority plans for urban infrastructure. As in other jurisdictions, provincial governments, agencies, institutions and other stakeholders would sign on to agreements between Ottawa and cities or regions to execute the plans, drawing the maximum possible buy-in and helping to maintain a system-wide focus on priorities, the statement explained
- Federal funding for urban priorities like infrastructure would fund the plan with per-capita or near-per-capita grants, rather than funding projects or programs. This would give cities and regions more flexibility to substitute federal, agency, pension investments or other revenues for the municipal share of costs, just as Montreal has limited its cost exposure with the REM light rail project, the report noted.
Other members of the CGCC are Michel Leblanc, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal; Zoe Addington, representative for the Calgary Chamber of Commerce; Iain Black, president and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade; Janet M. Riopel, president and CEO of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce; Loren Remillard, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce; Todd Letts, CEO of the Brampton Board of Trade; and Patrick Sullivan, president and CEO of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce.
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