Several national construction-sector associations have joined forces to encourage the federal and provincial governments to deliver on their infrastructure funding commitments.

The newly formed Building for Recovery coalition includes the Associated Equipment Distributors (AED), the Canadian Construction Association (CCA), Association of Consulting Engineering Companies - Canada (ACEC - Canada), and the National Trade Contractors Council of Canada (NTCCC).

The group is calling for senior levels of government to spend the money they have already committed to infrastructure funding in an effort to not only bolster the construction industry, but also to spur the economy along more generally.

"The construction sector is ready to rebuild Canada's economy but all levels of government must deliver on infrastructure investments now to get projects started," said Brian McGuire, president and CEO of the AED.

The coalition has launched a letter-writing campaign that calls attention to the significant shortfall in funding commitments. Infrastructure Canada, for example, has committed to spend $57 billion on nearly 17,000 projects. To date, work has started on fewer than 900 of those projects. The form letters created on the site call on federal and provincial elected officials to support the delivery of these projects.

The group points to research indicating the strong return on investment generated by infrastructure spending. The Public Policy Forum has found that for every dollar invested in public infrastructure, governments can expect to see a return of two to four dollars.

"History shows that investments in infrastructure are not only the best way to stimulate the economy, but they also create immediate employment opportunities and improve the economic and environmental quality of life for all Canadians," said NTCCC chair Sandra Skivsky.

The Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario has been vocal about the need for senior levels of government to hand out infrastructure funding dollars—and relief packages—to municipalities as soon as possible. The group has warned that failure to distribute such funding soon will cause local governments to cancel capital projects, and could cause Ontario’s construction industry to lose as many as 41,000 jobs.

"With federal and provincial governments working in collaboration with Canada's construction sector, we can ensure that we build back a stronger, more resilient country from the pandemic," said CCA president Mary Van Buren. "The time is now to deliver on billions of dollars of investments so we that can start to rebuild our economy."