StatsCan data looks at value, replacement costs of core public infrastructure
New data from Statistics Canada finds that the total value of core public infrastructure in Canada at the end of 2020 was more than $2.1 trillion.
The figure, which excludes social and affordable housing, valued roads at $894.2 billion, bridges and tunnels at $244.7 billion, and water infrastructure ($771.8 billion). Combined, roads, bridges and tunnels accounted for more than half (53%) of the total asset value, while water infrastructure accounted for about 36%.
The cost to replace all assets rated in poor or very poor condition was estimated at just over 10% of the total replacement value, at $264.7 billion, or $16,252 per private dwelling in Canada.
Road infrastructure made up more than 48.1% of the infrastructure in greatest need of rehabilitation or replacement (in poor or very poor condition), followed by wastewater infrastructure (13.9%) and potable water infrastructure (11.1%).
Municipalities ($1,328.5 billion) owned about 62% of the total estimated replacement value of core public infrastructure. Of that amount, more than two-thirds (68.1%) were in urban municipalities. Despite accounting for 17.8% of Canada's population, rural municipalities accounted for almost one-third of the replacement value of the core public infrastructure.
Roads made up most of the total replacement value of core public infrastructure in rural municipalities (57.9%), while they accounted for 21.5% in urban municipalities. Even though rural municipalities owned 79.1% of the length of municipally owned roads in 2020, they accounted for 55.8% of the replacement value, largely because more roads are unpaved in rural municipalities. Consequently, the cost to build new roads in rural municipalities was estimated at $0.4 million per two-lane equivalent kilometre, on average, compared with $1.2 million in urban municipalities.
Wastewater infrastructure had the largest value of all infrastructure categories in urban municipalities at $205.7 billion (22.7% of the total). The 836 wastewater treatment facilities, including lagoon systems, owned by urban municipalities in 2020 had a total replacement value of $30.2 billion. That amounted to an average of $36.2 million per facility and more than five times the average value of one facility owned by rural municipalities ($6.7 million). These amounts reflect differences in the type of facility, their size and capacity, as well as other factors, including the valuation methods used by municipalities, such as the average cost of recent projects or inflating historical costs.
The replacement values of publicly owned infrastructure in Canada were composed of $1,267.3 billion of assets rated in good or very good condition (58.8% of the total), $425.9 billion of assets in fair condition (19.8% of the total), and $264.7 billion of assets in poor or very poor condition (12.3% of the total). Another $195.7 billion (9.1%) in replacement values were for assets of unknown physical condition.
Assets in poor or very poor condition were estimated to account for a similar share of total replacement values in urban municipalities (13.0%) and rural municipalities (12.3%).
Although Ontario had the largest value of publicly owned infrastructure in poor or very poor condition ($70.5 billion) among provinces and territories, Nova Scotia (21.9%) and Quebec (19.9%) had the largest share of assets, by replacement value, rated in poor or very poor condition.