News & Events

Industry Continues Push for Long-Term Ontario Infrastructure Plan

November 1, 2010

The development of Ontario’s 10-year infrastructure plan is critical to business stability and planning for the province’s construction and design industry, an alliance of its major stakeholders says. “It is not just the contractors, but also the architects and engineers telling us, you have to have a ‘look out’ like this plan in order to build your company and your sector,” said Rob Bradford, spokesperson for the Construction and Design Alliance of Ontario (CDAO). “It helps the industry plan for the manpower, resources, materials and equipment required.” Ontario’s infrastructure ministry is currently receiving recommendations from across the province on how it should develop its 10-year infrastructure plan, pegged by some at almost $60 billion. The province hopes the plan will identify key issues and priorities to help modernize and expand public infrastructure over the next decade. The CDAO said it is “critical” that the 10-year plan focus on core infrastructure such as roads, bridges, public transportation, water treatment and distribution, electrical power and telecommunications infrastructure. In its meeting with Bob Chiarelli, Ontario’s infrastructure minister, the CDAO said it understood the province is facing some tough fiscal decisions post-recession and stimulus. “We know it’s unrealistic for them to say they are going to take big chunks out of the infrastructure deficit,” said Bradford, who is also the executive director of the Ontario Road Builders’ Association (ORBA). “Our point is, if you have a 10-year plan, you can show your intentions of how you will address the infrastructure deficit through some targets and show the process towards them.” The CDAO recommends that the infrastructure plan be “co-ordinated with and respond to” the province’s Renew Ontario strategy which focuses infrastructure development in specified areas of intensification, economic growth and development. Ontario’s municipalities are increasingly taking on more responsibility for core infrastructure like roads, sewers and water and they need reliable support from the province, said CDAO. “Municipal infrastructure funding needs some stable long-term treatment,” said Bradford. “We suggest any funding be established based on need determined by life-cycle planning.” Addressing the infrastructure challenges and needs of Northern Ontario were also highlighted by CDAO. A focused integrated plan that recognizes the massive geographic footprint of Northern Ontario would help with future road, water and power infrastructure development for the region. “All too often Northern Ontario gets lost in the shuffle when we talk about infrastructure. This government has indicated there are tremendous economic development opportunities up there,” said Bradford. “As we worry about congestion in the Greater Toronto Area and major urban centres, let’s not forget things are different up north and the solutions are different.” The 10-year plan is also an opportunity for the province to consider identifying and planning for “vision projects,” said CDAO. Examples of such projects are the Welland Canal, St. Lawrence Seaway and even the development of Highway 401 in the 1950s. The infrastructure plan could help establish the mechanisms required to carry them out. The minister requested a list of potential projects from CDAO. Regulatory reform is also essential in the 10-year plan, the CDAO recommended. If the plan were to tackle a major reform per year, it would help increase its efficiency and that of stakeholders trying to execute its various elements. The member groups of the CDAO are the Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario, Consulting Engineers of Ontario, Mechanical Contractors Association of Ontario, Ontario Association of Architects, Ontario General Contractors Association, Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association, Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, RESCON and ORBA. Vince Versace, Staff Writer Daily Commercial News, November 1, 2010

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