Carney’s $51B Infrastructure Fund Needs a Public Ledger

If Ottawa says infrastructure spending will unlock housing and stronger communities, Canadians should be able to track every approved project, dollar and promised result.

Mark Carney has launched the Liberals’ Build Communities Strong Fund with a headline number big enough to deserve a watchdog on day one: $51 billion over the next decade.

According to reporting by Global News and The Canadian Press, the fund includes $27.8 billion for core infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water and sewer systems. Another $6 billion is aimed at major local projects, including building retrofits and community centres. The remaining $17.2 billion is to be matched by provinces and territories and used to lower the cost of building new infrastructure and housing.

That is not pocket change. It is a national allocation machine. Carney’s first local-stream announcement was $64 million for a Brampton recreation centre and park, while Ottawa also announced $300 million for 13 projects later the same day, including water and wastewater work tied to new housing in Iqaluit.

Infrastructure can be legitimate. Roads, pipes, bridges and water systems are not optional. If communities cannot service new homes, they cannot build them at scale. But a conservative accountability standard starts with a simple rule: the bigger the fund, the clearer the receipts must be.

Ottawa should publish a project-by-project ledger before this becomes another ribbon-cutting tour. Canadians should see who applied, who was rejected, who was approved, the scoring criteria, the federal contribution, the provincial or municipal match, the local riding, the expected completion date, and the measurable outcome. If a project is sold as “housing-enabling,” the ledger should state how many homes it is expected to enable and when.

The allocation rules also need sunlight. Global reports Ontario is slated to receive the largest provincial-territorial share at $6 billion, followed by Quebec at $3.6 billion, British Columbia at $2.2 billion and Alberta at $1.9 billion. Provinces and territories must put 20 per cent of their funding toward rural, Northern and Indigenous communities, while 10 per cent of the $6-billion direct-delivery stream is reserved for Indigenous-led projects. Those commitments should be tracked publicly, not buried in press releases.

The risk is obvious. A $51-billion fund can build needed infrastructure, or it can become a politically managed map of pre-election-style announcements. Taxpayers should not have to guess whether Liberal-held ridings are overrepresented, whether politically connected contractors are benefiting, or whether “housing” is being used as a label for projects with weak housing results.

Carney wants Canadians to believe this is nation-building. Fine. Then build the ledger too. Publish the applications, criteria, contracts, conflicts, timelines, and outcomes. If the projects are as strong as the slogans, the receipts should make the case better than any podium ever could.