Ottawa’s $10.8B infrastructure deficit: Who will pay to fix it?

Last month, a watermain broke during the afternoon commute in one of the city’s main corridors, causing traffic diversions and delays and inconveniencing thousands of people. On Oct. 9, the city said the watermain at the Industrial Avenue and Riverside Drive burst, causing a rather large sinkhole. Officials said drinking water remained safe.

This scenario will become increasingly common as the city’s infrastructure ages, and Ottawa is not alone. 

In Winnipeg, the city’s Arlington Bridge was permanently taken out of use after officials determined it was in poor condition. 

Three years ago, the more than century-old bridge spanning the CPR railyard was deemed to be in poor condition. 

The bridge, which is the subject of a persistent urban legend that it was built to cross the River Nile but came up short, has started to be decommissioned. Council has approved $17 million for this and $5 million for the design of a new structure. 

However, “construction of a new bridge remains unfunded,” says David Drieger, manager of corporate communications for the City of Winnipeg.

The Arlington Bridge could be said to represent the city’s $8 billion infrastructure deficit.

In the northern Manitoba town of Thompson, Coun. Kathy Valentino, who is also first vice-president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, said they had to close their pool. 

“Our community lost the use of that asset because of the infrastructure deficit to replace it,” she told the Ottawa Lookout. “It affects your community probably more than you realize when we say infrastructure deficit, because how are we going to have the resources to repair, build our municipalities, to strengthen the economy.”