Government of Canada takes major step in building public infrastructure knowledge base

OTTAWA, Aug. 24, 2018 /CNW/ - Well planned public infrastructure investments help build strong communities, create jobs and opportunities for the middle class, and support a high standard of living for Canadians and their families, while building a country ready to face the challenges and seize the opportunities of the next century.

Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, welcomed the release of the first dataset under Canada's Core Public Infrastructure (CCPI) survey. The survey was a commitment made in Budget 2016 to support a more evidence and results based approach to public infrastructure policies, programs and investment decisions. The survey will present, for the first time, a statistically accurate and comprehensive national snapshot of the stock, condition and performance of public infrastructure in Canada.  

The CCPI survey is part of the Investing in Canada plan, which also includes funding for other data and research initiatives that will better inform how federal infrastructure funding programs are designed, implemented, tracked and reported. It aims to help all orders of government make public infrastructure investments that will deliver better roads and bridges, water systems, public transit options and community hubs that Canadians want and need.

To develop a baseline, Infrastructure Canada contracted with Statistics Canada, Canada's leading authority in statistical research, and worked in collaboration with key partners and stakeholders to design the CCPI survey.

The CCPI survey gathered information on nine core public infrastructure groupings: roads; tunnels and bridges; potable water; wastewater; storm water; public transit; solid waste; culture, recreation and sports facilities; and social and affordable housing. The survey also included a separate questionnaire on the related asset management practices for each asset group.

Today, Statistics Canada released the topline findings of its first dataset from the survey about two of the nine asset groups. The roads, bridges and tunnels data is now available through the Statistics Canada website.

Quotes

"Evidence based infrastructure investments will deliver better results for our communities, help grow the middle class, and provide our small and medium businesses with new opportunities for growth and prosperity today and into the future. This survey supports our government wide commitment to support an evidence and results based approach to policy making. The results of Canada's Core Public Infrastructure survey will establish an important baseline for measuring the impact and progress from infrastructure investments over time and will provide valuable benchmarks to help communities assess and prioritize local infrastructure projects."

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities

Quick facts

• Canada's Core Public Infrastructure survey is an Infrastructure Canada initiative, and was administered through Statistics Canada.
• The survey was conducted in 2017, using 2016 as the reference year for responses.
• Provincial, territorial and municipal infrastructure owners and operators completed the surveys and submitted them to Statistics Canada to be processed and analyzed.
• In all, more than 1,500 communities responded, resulting in a response rate of over 90 percent and a very high statistical accuracy rating.
• The results of the survey create a baseline, whereas future editions of the survey will highlight changes from that baseline. 
• Through the Investing in Canada infrastructure plan, the Government of Canada will invest more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and Canada's rural and northern communities.

Associated links

The Daily: Canada's Core Public Infrastructure Survey: Roads, bridges and tunnels, 2016:  https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/180824/dq180824a-eng.htm 

Statistics Canada News Release: https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/about/smr09/smr09_093 

For more information on the CCPI survey, including links to the survey questions, please visit Statistics Canada's Website.

Investing in Canada: Canada's Long-Term Infrastructure Plan:
http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/icp-publication-pic-eng.html

To learn more about federal infrastructure investments since 2016, please visit our project map at: http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/map-carte/index-eng.html.

Twitter: @INFC_eng 
Web: Infrastructure Canada

SOURCE Infrastructure Canada

For further information: Statistics Canada, Media Relations, 613-951-4636, [e-mail], Twitter: @StatCan_eng; Kate Monfette, Director of Communications, Office of the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, 613-301-0894, [e-mail]; Infrastructure Canada, 613-960-9251, Toll free: 1-877-250-7154, Email: [e-mail]

Related Links

http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/