Report: Toronto billions behind in infrastructure spending

Key Takeaways:

• A new report has found that Toronto needs to invest $4 billion annually to maintain its infrastructure.
• The city is currently only investing $1.4 billion per year, creating a gap of $2.6 billion per year or $26 billion in the next decade.
• Recently, the city dedicated $26 billion (52%) of the 10-Year Capital Budget and Plan to SOGR needs, nearly doubling SOGR investments over the past 10 years.

The Whole Story

Toronto is billions of dollars behind on infrastructure spending and wants to get caught up.

The city’s 2024 Corporate Asset Management Plan (AMP) was recently adopted by Toronto City Council. It identifies the value of non-core infrastructure assets at $73 billion and forecasts that an average annual investment of $4 billion is needed to maintain these assets in good condition to provide their current levels of service to Torontonians.

Officials say this contrasts with the average annual planned state of good repair (SOGR) funding of $1.4 billion in the city’s 2024 budget, revealing an investment gap of approximately $2.6 billion per year or $26 billion in the next decade.

Officials say the findings of the city’s 2024 Corporate Asset Management Plan are consistent with the city’s Long Term Financial Plan and past budget process where investments in SOGR have been a priority. Recent actions taken by the city to address asset renewal needs include:

• Dedicated $26 billion (52%) of the 10-Year Capital Budget and Plan to SOGR needs, nearly doubling SOGR investments over the past 10 years.
• Added $1.6 billion in additional SOGR funding to the 10-Year Capital Budget and Plan during the 2024 Budget process.
• Eliminated the city’s single largest SOGR liability with the Ontario-Toronto New Deal’s upload of the Gardiner Expressway to the province that saves nearly $2 billion which will be allocated to critical asset renewal guided by a capital prioritization framework and asset management plan.
• Developing a capital prioritization framework that will be integrated with the City’s 2025 Corporate Asset Management Plan to enhance the City’s existing prioritization processes and strategic decisions on when and where to prioritize capital infrastructure investments.
• The city’s 2024 Corporate AMP builds upon previous divisional asset management plans and includes all municipal infrastructure assets under the direct ownership of the City, excluding core infrastructure assets such as water, wastewater, stormwater, roads, bridges and culverts, which were reported in the City’s 2021 Core Infrastructure AMP.

To comply with provincial regulations, the city’s 2024 Corporate AMP reports on the costs required to maintain current levels of service. The forthcoming AMP will report on the costs to provide proposed levels of service to manage future growth including recommended funding strategies aligned with the final provincial regulation milestone on July 1, 2025.