Canadian Legislative Issues

Different levels of Canadian government are looking towards tolls and private sector investment for public infrastructure projects. In November 2016, both the Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Transport Minister Marc Garneau spoke about the need for the private sector to help build infrastructure projects that governments don’t have the necessary capital to fund. Morneau’s proposal for a Canada Infrastructure Bank received further endorsement from the multi-partisan Finance Committee report released in early-December.

This endorsement specifically recommended the bank’s creation. Both Ministers addressed the fact that investors would need a return on investment to make projects attractive, however this doesn’t outweigh the need for vital infrastructure.  

Following this lead, Mayor of Toronto John Tory announced in late-November 2016 his intentions to begin tolls on the city’s two largest highways, the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway. On December 13, 2016, his plan to raise extra money for public infrastructure received the council’s endorsement, with a vote of 32 to 9, which now needs to be approved by the province, which has announced the beginning of tolls of its own.

Last summer, the province completed an extension to the 407 and a link between it and the 401, which is named the 412. Both have remained free since then, but in early-January 2017 the province announced tolls would begin February 1, with the money raised going directly to public infrastructure projects.

With all three levels of government considering tolls as the best way to fund future infrastructure projects, fleet administrators need to be wary of rising costs in transportation. It is most likely that the Federal Government will introduce measures in their 2017 budget for the formal creation of the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Despite this bank's potential to raise billions of dollars in investments towards well needed infrastructure, fleet administrators and governments alike need to be concerned about user fees.

Private investors will be looking into ways to gain a return on their investments, with one of the most efficient ways being through tolls. Moving forward, it will be important for all levels of government to take into consideration these newly formed costs in order to not negatively impact services that millions of Canadians rely upon.