Canada's National Infrastructure Assessment

On November 27, 2025, the Canadian Infrastructure Council (the Council) released Canada's first National Infrastructure Assessment (NIA), Building Foundations for Tomorrow: Assessing Housing-Enabling Infrastructure Across Canada.

With demographic changes, increasing climate risks, and housing pressures, Canada's infrastructure systems are under growing strain. Communities need adequate water and wastewater systems, public transit, and solid waste management services to support housing growth and accommodate more residents.

At the direction of the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, the Council focused the first NIA on essential housing-enabling infrastructure, including: water and wastewater; public transit and active transportation; and, waste management, and the challenges these systems face due to population growth and climate change.

Over the course of the past year, the Council engaged broadly with experts and leaders across Canada, released a What We Heard report summarizing key insights, and published a series of technical papers on clean water and sanitation, solid waste management, and community mobility systems to inform and build the foundation for the development of the first NIA.

Together with the first NIA report, these pieces provide an evidence-based picture of Canada's housing-enabling infrastructure, showing where systems are under pressure, where investments can have the greatest impact, and how communities can build for a more resilient future.

Background

The Canadian Infrastructure Council is an arm's-length expert advisory body established by the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure on December 3,  2024.

The Council's mandate is to provide all orders of government with impartial, evidence-based research and analysis – developed openly and transparently – to help improve infrastructure planning and decision-making in Canada. Reporting to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, the Council will develop National Infrastructure Assessments, conduct evidence-based research or analysis on key infrastructure issues, and provide any additional analysis or advice on matters requested by the Minister.

For more information on the Council and its work, please visit Canadian Infrastructure Council or sign up for its mailing list.