Feds’ advisers share their recipe for growth: investment, immigration

OTTAWA — The Trudeau government’s hand-picked team of economic advisers is recommending Ottawa deliver over $200 billion worth of infrastructure projects over the next decade using as few taxpayer dollars as possible.

The suggestion was unveiled Thursday as part of the growth council’s first tranche of recommendations on how Ottawa should resuscitate the lacklustre economy.

The council says the goal of building productivity-enhancing infrastructure can be accomplished with the creation of an independent bank designed to seek private capital by offering investors steady returns through user fees generated by projects such as toll highways, bridges and airports.

“It is imperative for Canada to deliver infrastructure that meets the country’s growing needs,” the council states.

“Canada should leverage the trillions in institutional capital waiting on the sidelines and focus this investment productively.”

The group also called on Ottawa to create an agency with a mandate to increase foreign direct investment into Canada that it believes could triple investment in only a few years and add $43 billion to the gross domestic product.

“These actions would bring much-needed coherence to what is currently a disjointed approach to foreign investment,” the council said.

The council is also recommending that the federal government ramp up permanent immigration to 450,000 people a year over the next five years — with a focus on top business talent and international students.