Ontario’s municipal infrastructure is old and overloaded
Infrastructure is a fundamental and essential part of our lives. It makes our cities run and it allows us to access clean water by simply turning a tap, get light by flipping a switch and get rid of waste by flushing a toilet.
We use infrastructure every day, but we don’t really notice it until something goes wrong.
In the summer of 2003, most Ontarians were plunged into darkness when a deteriorating electrical grid buckled under the pressure of increased demand and the power went out in much of the province and the American northeast.
A decade later, in July 2013, a deluge of rain over a short period of time caused a flash flood in Toronto that cut power, flooded roads, halted subway and GO Train service and overloaded parts of our stormwater and sewer systems.
Both are scary examples of what happens when older infrastructure doesn’t have the capacity to meet the modern demands of an evergrowing region and of climate change.
Something is wrong with our essential infrastructure, such as the pipes that bring clean water into our homes, the roads that carry us and our goods and the transit that lets us move around. Our infrastructure is old and there is not enough of it.
Canada has an infrastructure deficit of more than $123 billion, according to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. That deficit is not currently being reduced because there is insufficient federal funding for infrastructure.
A recent study by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario found that more than $5.1 billion is required just to replace Ontario’s aging infrastructure.
The need is especially acute in the GTA, where we not only need to upgrade and retrofit older infrastructure, but where we also desperately need to add additional infrastructure to support the region’s growth.
Much of the responsibility of funding infrastructure has fallen to municipalities. They are increasingly using special taxes and fees on the development process to pay for infrastructure and it is new-home buyers who ultimately pay for the costs.
While growth should pay for growth, new-home buyers can’t be expected to foot the bill for everyone. Since infrastructure is used by all of us, we all have a responsibility to help pay for it.
Infrastructure is an investment in our cities and in our future and we need a federal government that will make it an investment priority.
So before you go to the polls on Monday to elect our next federal government, take the time to research where each party stands on funding infrastructure and make it a consideration when you cast your ballot. Bryan Tuckey is president and CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association and a land-use planner who has worked for municipal, regional and provincial governments. Follow him at twitter.com/bildgta, facebook.com/bildgta, and bildblogs.ca.