Replacing Canada's crumbling water, road infrastructure would cost more than $300B: Statistics Canada

The Statistics Canada survey suggests that more than a tenth of Canada's water systems are considered to be in "poor" or "very poor" condition.

It would take hundreds of billions of dollars to replace Canada's crumbling road and water systems, says Statistics Canada.

On Monday, the national statistics agency released the results of a 2022 survey of government agencies responsible for public infrastructure. Statistics Canada estimates that it would take $356.7 billion to replace road or water systems the survey says are in "poor" or "very poor" condition.

That cost estimate has jumped by more than $100 billion since 2020, the first year the survey was conducted.

The Statistics Canada survey suggests that more than a tenth of Canada's water systems are considered to be in "poor" or "very poor" condition. It estimates that replacing those systems would cost $106.5 billion.

It would take $250.2 billion to replace road infrastructure considered to be in "poor" or "very poor" condition, the survey suggests. Statistics Canada includes bridges, tunnels, public transit systems, sidewalks and bike paths in its road infrastructure calculation.

But the agency is warning that 17 per cent of public transit infrastructure and 42 per cent of "active transportation assets" — which include bike paths and sidewalks — were in unknown condition.