The Canadian Government on Tuesday introduced its first budget under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which calls for almost $12 billion in new infrastructure investments.
AEM welcomed the Trudeau government’s first infrastructure plan, which represents “Phase I” of the new prime minister’s campaign proposal to spend as much as $50 billion over the next decade on addressing deferred infrastructure maintenance and new investments.
“These investments will support job creation and economic growth in Canada by addressing a backlog of badly-needed infrastructure projects that have been neglected due to lack of funding and deferred maintenance,” AEM President Dennis Slater said in a statement following the budget’s release.
The statement continued: “AEM members in Canada and across North America also share the values that infrastructure is about delivering on both the short-term and long-term benefits to Canadians, through reliable, consistent, and strategically-focused investments.”
The budget calls for spending $3.4 billion in public transit, $5 billion for water and green infrastructure projects, and another $3.4 billion for “social infrastructure” (affordable housing, child care, cultural and recreational infrastructure).
According to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Trudeau government said that “Phase II” of its infrastructure plan, which is due sometime in the next year, would expand on investing in trade corridors to boost the Canadian economy.
