Members of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Big City Mayors Caucus (BCMC) are asking for federal infrastructure funding to move faster to enable key housing and infrastructure projects to advance this construction season.

The members, who represent Canada’s largest cities, say delays in getting dollars to cities would slow construction, drive up costs, and undermine efforts to deliver housing and economic growth at a critical moment for the country.

They say the are concerned that current infrastructure funding programs do not match the timelines and scale of needs, creating a gap between shared ambition and local delivery capacity.

“Mayors share the federal government’s ambition and sense of urgency, which is why we need to work together to get shovels in the ground this season,” said BCMC Chair Josh Morgan. “Canada’s housing and trade goals depend on enabling infrastructure and reliable transit in the cities where growth is happening. Housing targets require infrastructure capacity to match.”

Canada already has a proven tool for quickly moving infrastructure funding, the caucus says. The community stream, formerly known as the Canada Community-Building Fund, is one of the few national programs that provide predictable funding directly to municipalities. Cities use this funding to move projects forward without delays caused by complex agreements or long approval processes.

“The community stream is the only national program that gets federal dollars working in cities right away and it needs to be better leveraged,” said Morgan. “Cities need support that arrives in time and at a scale that matches the needs on the ground and our shared ambition to deliver immediately for Canadians.”

Meanwhile, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities has made a series of recommendations to keep projects moving.

• Increase the community stream of the Building Communities Strong Fund. This is the most direct and proven way to get local infrastructure projects started quickly.
• Develop a long-term national infrastructure plan. Canada needs a coordinated plan that supports housing, trade and economic growth.
• Strengthen supports for vulnerable residents. Work with provinces and territories to improve supportive housing, mental health services and community-based policing.
• Renew the federal-provincial-municipal funding partnership to modernize how we fund local governments in line with their growing responsibilities.
• Protect and streamline transit funding by reversing the $5 billion cut to the Canada Public Transit Fund. Predictable transit funding contributes to the federal government’s goal of making life more affordable for Canadians while reducing congestion that limits trade and business in our cities.

BCMC members say they are ready to work with the federal government on a practical and necessary solution that keeps projects on schedule and maintains momentum on critical local infrastructure that supports affordability and productivity.