2022-23 Departmental Results Report
Results at a glance

This section highlights some of the important results Infrastructure Canada has achieved in the fiscal year of April 2022 to March 2023 as it relates to the Departmental priorities which were set forth in the Departmental Plan 2022-23.

Mitigating impacts of natural disasters and investing in climate-ready infrastructure for Canadians to be able to adapt and build resilience to climate change.

In fiscal year 2022-23, Infrastructure Canada (INFC) delivered new and ongoing programming investing in climate-ready infrastructure to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters enabling Canadians to adapt and build resilience to climate change. This was accomplished through a range of mechanisms, including program funding provided directly to communities as well as programs provided through bilateral agreements with provincial and territorial partners.

Following through on the Government's commitment to kickstart the economy and accelerate infrastructure investments across the country, INFC successfully worked with provinces to fully commit their remaining funding under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP), while the territories will have until March 31, 2025. ICIP is promoting economic growth, supporting a low carbon economy, and building inclusive and resilient communities. Through ICIP's Green Infrastructure stream, INFC is supporting greener communities by contributing to climate change preparedness, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and expanding investment in renewable technologies in Canada. In 2022-23, INFC approved 1,406 green infrastructure projects, representing $6.6 billion in federal funding committed.

Further contributing to increasing climate change resilience across the country, the Natural Infrastructure Fund (NIF) supports the implementation of climate-ready natural or hybrid infrastructure solutions that are contextually designed and responsive to a changing climate. By the end of the 2022-23, the NIF had approved a federal contribution totalling $65 million. Moreover, to meet the needs of communities, the Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF) enables investments in climate-ready, resilient infrastructure. In 2022-23, the CCBF provided $2.3 billion to over 3,700 communities supporting approximately 5,500 projects. In 2022-23, Infrastructure Canada approved 46 new projects under the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF), increasing the number of approved projects to 115 and resulting in a total federal funding commitment of $2.7 billion. This funding helped protect communities against natural hazards and extreme weather events including, but not limited to drought, earthquakes, erosion, extreme temperatures, floods, permafrost thaw, storms, and wildland fires.

To support Canada's first National Adaptation Strategy which was launched in June 2023, the Government of Canada released the Adaptation Action Plan in November 2022, which committed up to $647 million in new infrastructure funding to enhance DMAF, launch open-access Climate Toolkits, accelerate the uptake of climate resilient codes, standards, and guidance, and incorporate resilience requirements into all new federal infrastructure programming. This new suite of support services will provide Canadian communities with access to technical support and advice with respect to considering climate adaptation and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation measures in their infrastructure projects. Infrastructure Canada co-chaired the Advisory Table for Resilient Natural and Built Infrastructure that advised on the goals, targets, and actions for increasing the resilience of Canada's infrastructure systems.

In 2022-23, 130 Climate Lens assessments were completed by INFC. The Climate Lens is a horizontal requirement applicable to ICIP, DMAF and Smart Cities Challenge which requires project proponents to estimate the expected GHG reductions associated with mitigation measures, and to analyze future climate conditions and identify any risks they may pose to the project, as well as to propose measures to withstand, respond to, recover from or adapt to climate change impacts.

Through a collaboration between INFC, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the Standards Council of Canada, new or updated codes, standards, guidance and tools were delivered, and their uptake promoted to support climate resilient infrastructure and buildings. A flagship deliverable of the NRC-led Climate Resilient Built Environment Initiative was the establishment of the Design Value Explorer. This bilingual, online tool allows infrastructure building professionals with historical and future-projected design values for all of Canada that incorporate projected changes in climate. The Standards to Support Resilience in Infrastructure Program focused on heat, flooding, the Canadian North, integrated risk management, natural infrastructure, and low-carbon resilience. During the 2022-23 timeframe, this program advanced 12 standardization strategies exceeding the targeted 9 and had 23 additional initiatives under development. These collaborative efforts led to the uptake of the National Guide for Wildland-Urban Interface Fires in Lytton, BC where the tools in the guide are being applied to build back better. Valuable technical guidance to increase the climate resilience of infrastructure is continuously being released by the NRC and Standards Council of Canada.

Supporting communities in their efforts to prevent and reduce homelessness, leading to sustainable and inclusive communities

In 2022-23, the Department was expanded to include the Community Engagement and Service Delivery Directorate. This enabled the transition of the service delivery component of Reaching Home: Canada's Homelessness Strategy, from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to Infrastructure Canada. Reaching Home is a community-based program that provides funding directly to communities to support efforts to address homelessness. In addition to base funding, the Government of Canada allocated $286.1 million in incremental funding to maintain community responses to the pressures of COVID-19, and support a shift back to more stable, longer-term approaches and solutions to addressing homelessness, including chronic homelessness. Results for 2022-23 reveal that Reaching Home-funded projects helped approximately 12,000 people experiencing homelessness find housing. Recognizing Indigenous peoples are overrepresented amongst the homeless population, Reaching Home has a dedicated Indigenous Homelessness funding stream, as well as distinctions-based funding and funding for Modern Treaty Holders. In the last fiscal year, INFC made significant progress to co-develop and/or advance approaches to Indigenous homelessness that respond to the specific priorities of First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

During the last fiscal year, Infrastructure Canada also worked in close collaboration with Veterans Affairs Canada to develop the Veteran Homelessness Program, which aims to prevent and reduce Veteran homelessness in Canada by delivering contributions funding through two streams, starting in 2023-24. The Services and Supports Stream will provide $72.9 million in funding for rent supplements and wrap-around services, such as counselling and treatment for substance use, and $6.2 million will also be available through the Capacity Building Stream to fund research on Veteran homelessness, as well as increase the capacity of service delivery organizations.

The Department has continued to expand its collaboration with provincial and territorial counterparts, via bilateral working-level calls with provincial and territorial governments and multilateral fora such as the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Open Forum on Homelessness. These collaborations provide an informal opportunity to compare approaches and discuss issues of common interest (e.g., Homeless Individuals and Families Information System implementation, the Action Research on Chronic Homelessness initiative, and the Veteran Homelessness Program).

Continuing to help communities adapt local public infrastructure and allow residents to safely conduct social, economic and cultural activities by implementing solutions and improving ventilation in a wide range of public buildings

To help Canadians through the pandemic, INFC worked with communities to fund solutions to challenges stemming from COVID-19, in addition to specific investments such ventilation improvement projects in hospitals and long-term care facilities.

More specifically, as part of ICIP, INFC's temporary COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure stream provided provinces and territories with added flexibility to fund quick-start, short-term projects that might not otherwise be eligible under the existing funding streams. The Department also created the flexibility to transfer up to 10 percent of original stream allocations to the new COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure stream to help mobilize their remaining funds under the ICIP. By the end of the fiscal year, 2,162 COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure projects had been funded, representing $1.9 billion in federal investments, including projects that support disaster mitigation and adaptation infrastructure.  

To support Canadians' health following the pandemic, INFC continued work to improve ventilation in public buildings. Since 2020, $190 million has been added to the COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure stream of the ICIP to support ventilation improvement projects in public buildings such as hospitals and long-term care facilities. In total, both through the dedicated ventilation improvement funding ($190 million) and the broader COVID-19 stream, Infrastructure Canada has funded 748 ventilation projects with a total value of more than $950 million by the end of the fiscal year.

The Canada Healthy Communities Initiative (CHCI) is another COVID-19 response initiative that specifically helps communities establish digital solutions, improve mobility, and adapt and create public spaces and local services in a way that meets people's needs both during and following the pandemic. It provides up to $61.3 million in contribution funding over five years to Community Foundations of Canada to work directly with communities to identify and fund local projects and solutions to the challenges presented by COVID-19. In 2022-23, the CHCI provided up to $30 million in federal funding to support an additional 401 projects, which brings the total number to 1,060 projects across Canada.

Partnering with all orders of government, Indigenous communities, transit agencies, government departments and other stakeholders to design the Permanent Public Transit Program and support the switch to zero-emission transit options to ensure accessibility and sustainable mobility of future cities and rural areas while reducing pollution and promoting jobs and services, and advancing intergovernmental coordination and agreements through our Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program and legacy programming

In fiscal year 2022-23, Infrastructure Canada engaged with key transit stakeholders to inform the design and delivery of future permanent public transit funding. In July 2022, the Department launched an engagement process; since then, INFC heard ideas and solutions from provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous peoples, transit agencies, policy experts, stakeholders, and Canadians that will help shape the future of public transit. This feedback builds on existing research studies, as well as the Government of Canada's research on transit, and will help ensure that permanent public transit funding delivers the greatest benefit to Canadians.

Expanding major urban transit networks is a key component of Infrastructure Canada's public transit programming, and major transit projects account for more than $22 billion across various programs, including the Permanent Public Transit Program (PPTP), ICIP and Legacy programs. This includes federal funding of $4 billion toward the Ontario Line to support building transit-oriented communities with increased affordable housing supply, $1.5 billion for the Calgary Green Line, over $780 million to purchase zero emission buses in Quebec, and up to $1.3 billion for the Surrey Langley SkyTrain.

Infrastructure Canada approved funding for 136 projects under the Rural Transit Solutions Fund (RTSF), a fund under the Permanent Public Transit Program, committing a total of $75.2 million to the development of transit solutions in rural and remote communities. Further, 32 projects representing a cumulative funding of nearly $1.2 billion were approved under the Zero Emission Transit Fund (ZETF) to support public transit and school bus operators to plan for electrification, the purchase of zero emission buses and build supporting infrastructure. Finally, 497 projects with a total program contribution of $367 million were approved via the Active Transportation Fund (ATF), investing in projects which build new and expanded networks of pathways, bike lanes, trails, and pedestrian bridges, in addition to supporting active transportation planning activities.  

Furthermore, last year, the ICIP Public Transit stream funded 426 projects representing more than $13 billion in federal investments which provided provinces, territories, and municipalities with funding to support new transit networks, service extensions and active transportation infrastructure. The program's COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure stream also played a critical role in enhancing and revitalizing transit and active transit within communities across the nation. This stream funds Active Transportation Infrastructure, including parks, trails, foot bridges, bike lanes and multi-use paths.

Concurrently, the Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF) continued to empower municipalities to strategically invest in infrastructure projects that cater to their specific needs, including the enhancement of public transit systems and the development of active transportation networks, such as cycling paths and pedestrian walkways.

Protecting our environment by investing in natural infrastructure, green and inclusive community buildings, clean power, and sustainable water and wastewater to improve Canadians' quality of life and drive towards a net-zero carbon, and climate resilient future

The Natural Infrastructure Fund (NIF) and Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) programs are essential to the Department's environmental protection efforts. Natural infrastructure and hybrid infrastructure are increasingly recognized for their ability to provide benefits such as: climate change resilience; access to nature and wellbeing; jobs and economic growth; environmental quality; protection of biodiversity; and carbon sequestration. In 2022-23, three projects in Halifax, Winnipeg and Vancouver were approved under the Large Projects stream, representing a federal contribution of nearly $25 million to the NIF to support diverse organizations in building resilient and healthy communities through the implementation and installation of natural or hybrid infrastructure and other natural assets. By the end of fiscal year 2022-23, the GICB program had funded 25 large retrofits, 123 small/medium retrofits and 44 new community buildings in communities from coast to coast to coast. Overall improvements to existing community buildings are expected to increase energy savings and reduce GHG emissions. For example, new community buildings will be constructed to meet the Canada Green Building Council's Zero Carbon Building Design Standard, or exceed the 2017 National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings. Net-zero carbon buildings are highly energy efficient buildings that procure high-quality carbon offsets or produce carbon-free renewable energy onsite in an amount sufficient to offset the annual carbon emissions associated with building materials and operation.

This past fiscal year, INFC provided advice and guidance to the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) on its priorities and activities in investing into clean energy and green infrastructure projects. This led to over $2.25 billion of CIB capital put into projects valued at over $5.5 billion between April and December of 2022. These investments included financing for Zero Emission Buses, small modular nuclear reactors, and wastewater treatment facilities.

Finally, through collaboration with the National Research Council, INFC continues to support research, the development of life-cycle inventory data and standardization of life-cycle analysis approaches, and the advancement of guidance and building standards to encourage the development of a low-carbon construction sector. INFC is collaborating with other departments on a shared mandate to introduce a new Buy Clean Strategy to support the use of low-carbon materials in Canadian infrastructure projects. INFC supported the development of the Buy Clean Strategy, including through engagement of key provincial, territorial, municipal, Indigenous and industry stakeholders.

Advancing work on a National Infrastructure Assessment to identify Canada's infrastructure needs and priorities, linking public investments with policy outcomes, and planning for a future that is green, inclusive and prosperous

Infrastructure Canada continued to lay the groundwork to launch the National Infrastructure Assessment (NIA). The Department continued engagement to inform the development of the mandate, design and governance of the NIA, including with outside experts to better understand how other jurisdictions have undertaken similar assessments. Once established, the NIA will identify Canada's infrastructure needs and priorities by providing an evidentiary basis to link public investments with policy outcomes.

Supporting and managing the delivery of major bridge projects to promote economic growth and the efficient flow of people and goods, while ensuring effective governance and stewardship of portfolio organizations, as well as internal teams which work to manage these important projects

Infrastructure Canada continued to fund the construction and long-term operations of major federal bridges and projects to promote economic growth, provide value for money for Canadians, and foster safety, sustainable development, and urban integration.

INFC worked closely with its private partner, Signature on the Saint Lawrence Group, and CDPQ Infra/REM inc. to integrate the Réseau express métropolitain light rail transit system within the Samuel De Champlain Bridge's dedicated Transit Corridor. INFC also continued to work with its private partner to complete remaining work and transition to a more stable operation-maintenance-rehabilitation period. In addition, INFC maintained support for the Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated (JCCBI) as it deconstructs the original Champlain Bridge. Deconstruction remains on time and on budget, with the project expected to be completed in 2024, and with rehabilitation of the area expected to be completed in 2025. INFC works closely with various private and other partners, including JCCBI, to ensure a smooth transition to the stable operations-maintenance-rehabilitation phase.

Moreover, the Department supported the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority in its delivery of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, alongside the state of Michigan, through a public-private partnership with Bridging North America. Advancing negotiations to repatriate the Pont de Québec remains a priority for INFC as the Government of Canada understands the strategic, economic and heritage importance of its restoration, and is continuing to work toward reaching an agreement in principle with the Canadian National Railway.

Promote the use of alternative approaches to financing and delivering public infrastructure, which includes supporting Canada's international and domestic focus on Private-Public-Partnership models

In 2022-23, Infrastructure Canada sought to meet the needs of Canadians by supporting the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) in delivering on its mandate to attract private and institutional investment to revenue generating infrastructure projects in the public interest. The Department also led the mandatory five-year review of the Canada Infrastructure Bank Act which assessed whether the policy premises and legislative authorities underpinning the creation of the CIB are still sound and pertinent, and whether the operation of the CIB is effective. During this review, the Department undertook external stakeholder engagement activities with over 80 stakeholder representatives from governments, Indigenous partners, industry, market participants, academia, and international organizations. The review was completed, and a report was tabled in Parliament in June 2023.

Additionally, Infrastructure Canada conducted a wide array of research activities that contributed to a deeper understanding of the role private and institutional investors can play in the development and delivery of infrastructure. This included the monitoring of key capital market developments and conducting research and analysis on infrastructure investment strategies of asset managers including banks, insurance companies, and investment fund managers. Analysis and advice were developed around the impacts of inflation, rising interest rates, and supply chain pressures for infrastructure delivery.

Finally, the Department also undertook assessments of municipal finances through monitoring of public financial disclosures, including key drivers of revenue and costs, comparisons across size, and developed a comprehensive database to track trends and developments over time. Through these actions, Infrastructure Canada continues to build capacity and knowledge around the financial positions of provinces and municipalities to better leverage alternative financing models.

For more information on Infrastructure Canada's plans, priorities and results achieved, see the "Results: what we achieved" section of this report.