New PwC report explores paths to closing Canada’s infrastructure gap
Categories: Canada
Opportunities in power, resources, defence and more.
Talking Points
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has released a report titled Mobilizing Canada’s US$4.7T infrastructure opportunity, highlighting the challenges and opportunities in addressing Canada’s infrastructure gap. Despite ranking fourth globally in infrastructure spending at over $201 billion CAD, Canada invests only 6.6% of its GDP, below the 7.4% average of high-performing peers. An additional annual investment of $47 billion CAD is needed to close this gap by 2050.
- The report emphasizes the need for a unified approach to energy, defence, resource, and digital infrastructure.
- Five core pillars of opportunity are identified: resources ($2.2 trillion CAD), transportation ($1.2 trillion CAD), power ($842 billion CAD), digital infrastructure ($330 billion CAD), and defence.
- Recommendations include blended public-private investments and enhancing workforce readiness through dual-track programs.
This report is crucial as it outlines a strategic path for Canada to maximize its infrastructure potential and ensure sustainable growth.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has released its new report, Mobilizing Canada’s US$4.7T infrastructure opportunity, which explores the opportunities and challenges that Canada faces in closing its current infrastructure gap.
The report finds that despite Canada’s fourth global ranking in annual infrastructure spending at more than $201 billion CAD, this spend comprises roughly 6.6 per cent of its GDP. This figure sits below the average of 7.4 per cent invested by Canada’s high-performing peers, with an additional annual investment of $47 billion CAD required to close this gap by 2050.
Built on Oxford Economics’ latest forecast, the report highlights that Canada’s successful realization of this opportunity relies not just on volume of investment, but how those investments come together as connected systems. This includes a shift in perspective toward viewing Canada’s energy, defence, resource, and digital infrastructure plans as a unified infrastructure opportunity, rather than separate commitments, PwC said.
“Canada’s energy strategy, its defence commitments, its critical minerals potential, and its digital ambitions are being treated as separate conversations. They’re not. They’re one infrastructure challenge. Canada can exceed its US$4.7 trillion forecast or fall short of it. The difference will come down to the decisions being made now on how we plan, fund, and deliver together,” said Johanne Mullen, partner at PwC Canada and its national leader of real assets.
The report identifies five core pillars of Canada’s infrastructure opportunities, including resources (valued at $2.2 trillion CAD cumulative), transportation (valued at $1.2 trillion CAD), power (valued at $842 billion CAD), digital infrastructure (valued at $330 billion CAD), and defence (expected to see a 389 per cent growth as Canada’s fastest-growing sector).
In addition to viewing these commitments as part of one larger infrastructure system, the report also recommends moving away from traditional funding toward blended public-private investment and Indigenous partnerships, along with increasing workforce readiness through models such as Germany’s dual-track programs, which pair professional degrees with trade certifications.
The report is available for download through PwC’s website. A live webinar is scheduled for June 17 at 11AM ET, where PwC Canada experts will discuss the report’s findings.