Canada's Municipal Infrastructure 'Near Collapse'

The physical foundations of Canada's cities and communities are "near collapse," according to a report on the state of municipal infrastructure released Tuesday by Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

"Danger Ahead: The Coming Collapse of Canada's Municipal Infrastructure" says that close to 80 per cent of Canada's infrastructure is past its service life and sets the price for eliminating the municipal infrastructure deficit at $123-billion.

The FCM says the report provides a snapshot of what municipal governments identify as their infrastructure funding needs. It does not provide an exhaustive or complete account of the physical condition of municipal infrastructure.

The $123-billion estimate in the study includes "sub-deficits" for key categories of municipal infrastructure: water and waste water systems ($31-billion), transportation ($21.7-billion), transit ($22.8-billion, solid-waste management ($7.7-billion) and community, recreational, cultural and social infrastructure ($40.2-billion).

FCM is calling on the federal government and all parties in the House of Commons to acknowledge the need for a real national plan to fix the municipal infrastructure deficit once and for all.