This report provides estimates of the economic benefits of a five-year, $50-billion public infrastructure spending program in Canada funded equally by the federal and provincial governments. Public infrastructure is defined as the engineering construction component of all levels—federal, provincial and territorial, and local—of the public administration sector’s capital stock, and includes primarily transportation systems, such as subways and highways, water supply, and wastewater treatment facilities.
The benefits of a national public infrastructure program arise from the direct program spending, but then extend beyond this direct impact with public capital promoting long-term economic growth and productivity. Federal and provincial funding for the program is assumed to come from either existing budget surpluses or from deficit financing. Tax rates are left at baseline scenario levels so as to prevent mixing the results of the spending initiative with the impact of selected tax increases.
The report does not advocate for one financing option over others, but models one option based on fiscal projections and economic outlooks as of January 2015.
‘The Economic Benefits of Public Infrastructure Spending in Canada’ is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
