Building Canada - Modern Infrastructure for a Strong Canada - Building Canada: the Plan

Building Canada: the Plan

Building Canada will fund strategic investments in projects designed to produce results in three areas of national importance: a growing economy; a clean environment; and strong and prosperous communities. Through this plan, all orders of government will work together to plan and build a modern Canada ready to compete with the best in the world. And the investments will deliver tangible results in areas that matter to Canadians - safer roads, faster commutes, cleaner water and air, and vibrant and healthy cities, towns and rural areas.

The Building Canada Plan

Building a Stronger Economy

Building Canada will help build a stronger Canadian economy by investing in infrastructure projects that contribute to increased trade, efficient movement of goods and people, and economic growth.

Gateways and Border Crossings

Given the critical role that trade plays in Canada's economy, upgrading and expanding gateway and border crossing infrastructure, and their key inter-modal linkages, is a major national priority. Many of these vital links are already strained in the face of current demands, and investments are required to ensure these assets are reliable and efficient, with the capacity to accommodate future trade needs.

The federal government's new National Policy Framework for Strategic Gateways and Trade Corridors will help guide federal investment decisions on gateway and border crossing projects. This framework builds on Canada's Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative and identifies two priorities for new gateway and corridor strategies in central and eastern Canada.

On July 30, 2007, the Government of Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec which establishes the framework for federal-provincial collaboration to develop the Ontario-Quebec Continental Gateway and Trade Corridor in partnership with the private and public sectors. The work carried out pursuant to this MOU will help guide investments along this Corridor.

Investments in trade-related infrastructure will be designed to:

• Improve the efficiency and safety of gateways and trade corridors, eliminating bottlenecks and reducing congestion, to enhance Canada's economic competitiveness and productivity and facilitate inter-provincial and international commerce;
• Optimize the use of all transportation modes and improve the integration of inter-modal connections;
• Advance knowledge of the transportation system to improve long-term planning, guide investment decisions, and promote innovative technologies and financing mechanisms;
• Minimize environmental impacts.

Highways

The need to modernize and expand capacity for all modes of transportation in Canada is considerable, most acutely on the National Highway System (NHS). And this pressure is only going to increase with truck freight traffic projected to grow significantly over the next 20 years. Key components of the NHS also need to connect to inter-modal facilities and international gateways to meet the demands of global supply chains. Failure to keep pace would have severe economic and safety impacts.

In urban centres, congestion not only impedes the flow of people and goods but harms the environment by increasing air pollution. Rural and remote highways are also in immediate need of repair in many regions across Canada. These non-core components of the NHS play an important economic role in connecting smaller, more remote communities to the larger economic centres.

Building Canada will focus on highway infrastructure projects designed to:

• Improve the safety and efficiency of Canada's transportation system, with an emphasis on the core National Highway System;
• Improve the state of good repair of these infrastructure assets;
• Improve mobility by reducing bottlenecks and congestion;
• Minimize negative environmental impacts.

Short-line Rail and Short-sea Shipping

As an exporting nation, Canada needs an integrated and efficient national transportation system. To remain competitive, Canada must ensure seamless connections between the modes. This can be accomplished through targeted investments in short-line railways and short-sea shipping facilities, increasingly important infrastructure in high-traffic areas such as major market hubs and coastal waterways.

Renewed and upgraded short-line railway infrastructure will provide better connections to mainline corridors, improve market access for rural shippers, strengthen rural economies and employment opportunities, and reduce stress on regional road infrastructure caused by truck transportation.

It is also important to stimulate investments in short-sea shipping facilities as Canada's trade and population continue to grow. Ports are an important inter-modal hub where a variety of transportation modes - trucks, trains, and ships - converge. Capital investments will improve Canada's waterway capacity and usage, facilitate cross-border trade and help reduce congestion on road and rail networks.

Building Canada offers long-term funding for short-line and short-sea infrastructure designed to:

• Enhance Canada's economic competitiveness and productivity by improving the efficiency and integration of the country's transportation systems;
• Reduce bottlenecks and the growth of congestion;
• Minimize negative environmental impacts by making the best use of all available modes and existing infrastructure.

Regional and Local Airports

Many regional and local airports play a significant role in the communities they serve. They link smaller communities to larger national airports and to domestic and international markets. These airports deliver vital emergency services to small and remote communities.

Airports require significant infrastructure, which may be beyond the means of some communities to provide. Building Canada investments will be directed towards projects that can:

• Improve the efficiency and accessibility of regional and local airports;
• Improve or maintain high levels of safety and security.

Connectivity and Broadband

Technology that connects rural and remote communities to other parts of the country is very important in a country as vast as Canada. And Canadians increasingly recognize that broadband is not simply a "nice to have" technology. It is a fundamental requirement for many smaller communities and the prosperity of Canada as a whole.

Smaller and remote centres need broadband technology to provide their citizens with improved access to government and health services, jobs, business opportunities, education and training. Having broadband access can also reduce the need to travel to larger urban centres, producing environmental benefits.

A lot of progress has been made in the expansion of broadband infrastructure, but significant gaps remain. Businesses are reluctant to bring broadband Internet services to communities with small populations and lower levels of income and business activity. Some 2,000 communities will still not have high-speed access by 2008 including, most notably, many aboriginal communities.¹⁴

Building Canada promotes investments in connectivity infrastructure designed to:

• Improve the delivery of public services, such as government services, education and health;
• Improve quality of life, social development, reduce travel requirements, and increase the potential for innovation and economic development by connecting Canadians—particularly in rural and remote communities.

Tourism

Tourism and business travel are important parts of Canada's economy. They create jobs and provide foreign exchange and revenues. Tourism contributed more than $26 billion to the Canadian economy in 2005.¹⁵

The private sector plays a major role in tourism and meeting infrastructure as well as attractions across Canada. However, public sector investments can also play a role and Building Canada will focus on one such area: investments in convention centres and exhibition spaces. These facilities help strengthen the reputation of Canadian cities as world-class convention destinations, while contributing to Canada's brand and profile in the international community.

Building Canada encourages investments in infrastructure that can achieve significant economic and/or regional impacts through the construction or improvement of convention centres or exhibition hall-type facilities.

^[14] Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, CRTC Telecommunications Monitoring Report: Status of Competition in Canadian Telecommunications Markets, July 2007.

^[15] Canadian Tourism Commission, Tourism Snapshot: 2005 Year Review, Volume V, Issue I, 2005.