Ontario has released a 13-year plan that details the province’s commitment to invest a record $190 billion in public infrastructure including hospitals, schools, public transit, roads and bridges.
The plan, titled Building Better Lives: Ontario’s Long-Term Infrastructure Plan 2017 highlights the following:
- Integrating climate change considerations into infrastructure planning for sustainability
- Building resilient and substantive infrastructure
- Implementing social policy initiatives such as community benefits projects and apprenticeships
- Improved access to critical infrastructure especially broadband connectivity for both rural and urban communities in Ontario
- Ensuring community needs are taken into account in infrastructure planning and public property decision-making with the implementation of a Social Purpose Real Estate strategy
- Launching an online map of more than 3,500 projects across the province to inform residents about a new project being developed in their area
“Infrastructure is much more than bricks and mortar. It is the schools our children attend, the water we drink, the hospitals where we welcome new life and the roads that carry us home to our loved ones each day,” said Minister of Infrastructure Bob Chiarelli. “Infrastructure is about people and that is why it is fitting that our Long-Term Infrastructure Plan focuses on building better lives.”
The plan also includes the province’s first asset inventory that describes the condition, age and value of a provincial infrastructure. Facilities are categorized by sector.
According to a statement released by Chiarelli’s office on Nov. 28, the province’s planned investment is part of Ontario’s greater plan to create fair opportunities during a “period of rapid economic change.”