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Let’s rethink how we build. How we fund. How we collaborate
Imagine Canada’s infrastructure in 2050—not as a collection of disconnected assets, but as integrated systems. Roads that access mining regions, serve remote defence installations, and enhance regional mobility. Rail corridors that accommodate transmission lines powering both manufacturing facilities and local communities. Digital systems woven through every layer.
This future is within reach. A new Oxford Economics forecast prepared for PwC projects Canada will need $4.7 trillion in infrastructure investments by 2050. (All report figures are in 2023 US dollar prices.) This includes new and renewed roads, bridges, and waterworks alongside hospitals, data centres, and defence facilities, among other structures.
Deployed strategically, that scale of capital can accelerate our long-term growth by enhancing trade competitiveness, strengthening energy independence, and securing our economic sovereignty. It can also address critical structural challenges, from housing shortages to climate adaptation. The ripple effects extend further—job creation, productivity gains, and a stronger foundation for Canada’s economic future.
These outcomes aren’t guaranteed. They depend on decisions Canadian leaders make now on how infrastructure is organized, funded, and delivered. That’s the focus of this report: how governments, investors, engineers, and operators can work together to capture this opportunity.
Canada currently ranks fourth globally in annual infrastructure spending at $145 billion. By 2050, that’s projected to grow to $210 billion annually, a 45% increase that preserves our position within the top-five spending nations.
But where will this money come from? Public budgets face constraints. Private capital will be required to fund this buildout, both in Canada and abroad. For investors evaluating where to deploy capital, understanding how different countries are approaching infrastructure—and their spending priorities—shows where opportunities are emerging.
Building Canada’s infrastructure demands coordination. Governments are investing simultaneously in transit, housing infrastructure, energy, utilities, trade corridors, and digital infrastructure. Workforce constraints pose one of the biggest risks to delivering Canada’s infrastructure agenda. But solutions exist—targeted training and certification programs, strategic immigration, and more.
Equally critical: reimagining how we build infrastructure. Engaging Indigenous communities as full economic partners will underpin Canada’s infrastructure buildout and help our investments deliver broader public benefits beyond private returns alone. At the same time, infrastructure developers and operators have an opportunity to reinvent how they create, deliver, and capture value. Advanced technology, including AI, will reshape project delivery, productivity, and cost competitiveness.
Canada can exceed this forecast. It can also fall short of it. The difference comes down to the moves we make next.
Several forces are converging to drive infrastructure spending in Canada. Global demand for resources is intensifying, creating opportunities for Canada’s mining and energy sectors. Countries and companies are reordering supply chains based on geopolitical risk, positioning Canada as a stable alternative. Canada’s NATO commitments and Arctic security requirements are creating new defence infrastructure needs. And the energy transition is creating new demand for critical minerals, cleaner power generation, and storage. Additionally, governments and businesses are renewing existing infrastructure assets across all sectors.
Click on bars to drill down into sector details.
(Cumulative spending in 2023 US dollar prices.)
The largest share of Canada’s infrastructure investments will flow to the resources sector, reaching $63 billion annually by 2050. Transportation is the second-largest at $42 billion annually. Social infrastructure (health, aged care, and education) will reach $33 billion annually. These three sectors will account for roughly two-thirds of all Canadian infrastructure spending in 2050.
Defence infrastructure is Canada’s fastest-growing sector and is projected to grow 389% between 2024 and 2050—a pace that requires modernized defence procurement approaches. This aligns with Canada’s commitment to dedicate an additional 1.5% of GDP to critical defence and security investments. Many of these investments—airports, ports, communications systems—can serve dual applications, strengthening both defence capabilities and civilian infrastructure needs.
(Annual spending in 2023 US dollar prices.)
Yet Canada’s infrastructure spending remains highly concentrated. Resource investments alone will represent roughly 30% of Canada’s infrastructure mix in 2050. Other countries are diversifying faster into sectors that are reshaping energy systems, trade networks, and digital infrastructure. For example, nuclear power is expected to grow 45% globally between 2024 and 2050, compared to 11% in Canada, despite several high-profile projects in this country. Elsewhere, ports and airports—the connectors enabling global trade—will increase 73% and 93% globally, compared to 64% and 78% in Canada.
While fast-growing emerging economies buoy these global averages, Canada also risks falling behind other advanced economies—including the US. Looking at the same investment categories, the US is expected to outpace Canada in nuclear power (17% versus 11%), airports (99% versus 78%), and several other categories. We see the same pattern elsewhere. For example, Canada is projected to trail peer countries such as the UK and Australia in attracting data centre investments.
Canada can start closing these gaps by better understanding its industry-specific opportunities and constraints. Each sector tells a different story about our competitive position—and what it will take to accelerate Canada’s edge.
Resources infrastructure—the facilities and networks supporting extraction, processing, and transportation of oil, gas, coal, metals, and minerals—is the largest category of Canada’s infrastructure spending. Between now and 2050, it’s projected to grow from $53 billion annually to $63 billion, representing $1.59 trillion cumulatively. Several forces are behind this growth, including rising global demand for Canadian minerals and energy, geopolitical shifts, and Canada’s position as a stable, reliable source for markets seeking alternatives to concentrated suppliers. The federal government is also playing a role, providing refundable tax credits to encourage the acquisition and development of assets used for clean technology manufacturing and processing, or the processing of certain critical minerals.
(Annual spending in 2023 US dollar prices.)
Regulatory approval timelines and intergovernmental coordination hinder resources infrastructure development. Projects face years of approvals and must navigate overlapping regulations. This increases costs and uncertainty. Yet we see intent to address these challenges. For example, the federal government has proposed a one-year target for its reviews of major projects. And some provinces are introducing complementary measures, such as Alberta’s Bill 30, which would create a 120-day approval process for major energy, mining, and industrial projects. If successful, such measures could accelerate several proposed projects and push Canadian resources infrastructure spending beyond our baseline forecast.
But it’s not just new greenfield projects driving our forecast. A significant portion of resources infrastructure spending strengthens domestic supply chains through renewal and brownfield expansion: extending the life of existing assets, upgrading aging infrastructure, and expanding capacity. This work operates under different regulatory frameworks than greenfield projects, often with simpler approval pathways and faster timelines.
Such brownfield opportunities are already attracting investment. Foreign investors and Canadian companies alike are acquiring and upgrading assets, revitalizing established operations, and mobilizing private capital.
(Annual spending in 2023 US dollar prices.)
Beyond brownfield renewal, resources infrastructure is increasingly shaped by the need to develop enabling assets serving multiple purposes and users simultaneously.
Examples are emerging of projects that combine mineral extraction with Indigenous ownership, power generation, transportation, and digital connectivity—creating opportunities to collaborate across industries and serve multiple users.
This convergence demands alignment across government, Indigenous communities, private-sector companies, and other stakeholders. When these groups coordinate around shared interests, resources infrastructure delivers broader economic outcomes.
Canada’s agriculture, oil and gas, and minerals sectors are reshaping the country’s transportation infrastructure priorities. Historically, these commodities moved through established trade corridors built around existing customer relationships. But there’s growing interest in developing more east-west connections toward other global markets. Whether these corridors materialize—and which ones are prioritized—will depend on how the value chains for these commodities evolve, particularly the extent to which Canada develops additional downstream processing capacity.
(Annual spending in 2023 US dollar prices.)
Roads and bridges make up the bulk of Canada’s transportation infrastructure spending. But airports are projected to see the fastest growth, rising 78% to $4 billion annually by 2050. That represents $90 billion in cumulative spending on airport infrastructure between now and 2050. Facing these capital requirements, the federal government is exploring privatization options and alternative ownership models that could attract private investment.
We’re also seeing significant investment in passenger rail infrastructure, including subway expansions, regional networks, and high-speed rail development. For freight, there’s growing interest in second-tier rail lines that serve specific corridors and connect to the national network. These operators are attracting institutional capital. Private investors see opportunities in feeder lines, regional consolidation, and specialized routes that connect commodity sources to ports and global markets. These corridors can also serve multiple purposes—for example, advancing Canada’s broader infrastructure priorities, including defence and security.
(Annual spending in 2023 US dollar prices.)
Infrastructure built in anticipation of future requirements helps reduce costly retrofits later. Consider, for example, how expanded rail capacity and power infrastructure in regions like the Labrador Trough could be designed to serve multiple purposes and reduce future costs. Early alignment of all stakeholders can accelerate the delivery of Canada’s transportation infrastructure. This alignment starts with clarity: what problem is this infrastructure solving, and for whom? Projects that prioritize answering these questions over political or engineering considerations deliver infrastructure that serves actual demand—both now and tomorrow.
Several forces are reshaping power infrastructure needs. Electrification of motor vehicles, industrial processes, and heating systems is increasing base load demand. Meanwhile, new mining operations, data centres, and other major projects require dedicated power generation. In parallel, US energy demand is creating opportunities for Canadian exports. Global energy security concerns are also pressuring countries, including Canada, to strengthen domestic energy supplies. In response, the federal government recently launched a new National Electricity Strategy containing a goal of doubling grid capacity by 2050.
(Annual spending in 2023 US dollar prices.)
Our forecast projects power infrastructure spending to grow from $18 billion annually to $28 billion by 2050, totalling $605 billion in cumulative investment. Renewables is both the largest and fastest-growing segment, projected to grow from $7 billion to $13 billion annually. That represents $272 billion in cumulative investment.
Nuclear is another notable component of our forecast. Canada is extending its existing nuclear fleet through major refurbishment projects, advancing a large-scale nuclear build, and constructing small modular reactors. Our forecast projects $86 billion in cumulative nuclear investment through 2050. Should the nuclear projects underway lead to accelerated nuclear adoption across Canada, we could see nuclear spending exceed our forecast.
Across the power sector, Canada faces competition for investment, particularly from the US. Investors are attracted by that country’s regulatory approval timelines, tax treatment, and investment clarity. In Canada, recent policy changes—including clean economy tax credits—aim to create a more competitive environment. For investors, the question is whether Canada’s improvements can match, or even exceed, the conditions in the US.
(Annual spending in 2023 US dollar prices.)
Canada’s power grid is largely integrated north-south, connecting to US markets. But east-west connections between provinces remain fragmented. This limits domestic power movement, creates operational friction, and hampers our energy transition efforts. Moving more power between provinces and territories is one of the pillars of Canada’s National Electricity Strategy. This would add flexibility, improve resilience, and help allocate resources more efficiently. This requires strategic government investment in grid upgrades—capital deployed for energy sovereignty and system resilience rather than commercial returns alone—coupled with regulatory clarity and predictable execution timelines.
Canada’s social infrastructure—encompassing educational, health-care, and aged-care facilities—faces multiple pressures. An aging population increases demand for provincial investments in new and redeveloped hospitals as well as long-term care facilities. Long-term population growth will create demand for new schools and education infrastructure. Older facilities with deferred maintenance require renewal and reinvestment. And our geography means this infrastructure must be distributed more broadly across Canada. We need investments in remote, northern, and less densely populated parts of the country. This stretches capital needs further.
Canada’s social infrastructure spending is forecast to grow from $18 billion annually to $33 billion by 2050, representing $667 billion cumulatively, split roughly evenly between education and health. However, delivering this investment faces constraints: labour availability, construction capacity, and regulatory approval timelines.
(Annual spending in 2023 US dollar prices.)
Private capital has historically played a role in health-care infrastructure through public-private partnerships (P3s), but mega-projects have become too large for many contractors to bond and finance. Aged care, by contrast, continues to attract private investment through a mix of public funding and private operation. Operators in this space are evolving their business models, shifting from asset ownership to service provision. Another emerging trend involves health-care and housing providers working together to improve health outcomes through integrated services.
(Annual spending in 2023 US dollar prices.)
Some health-care infrastructure projects are designed as distributed networks or integrated campuses connected with digital health capabilities, rather than large standalone facilities. Smaller, distributed models can be built faster and coordinated more easily, bringing care closer to patients’ homes. Others co-locate with research facilities, medical education, and innovation spaces. This convergence offers multiple benefits: knowledge transfer between clinical and research teams, economic activity around health-care anchors, and infrastructure serving multiple purposes. For investors and operators, these models create more complex but potentially more valuable projects.
Digital infrastructure encompasses transport, storage, and computation—the foundational systems that move, store, and process data. Demand for these systems is already intense and will only increase, driven by AI adoption, next-generation wireless networks including 6G, and the escalating volume of data. Additionally, growing emphasis on sovereign digital infrastructure is drawing public capital into initiatives such as geo-redundant fibre networks. Canada’s digital infrastructure spending is forecast to grow from $9 billion annually to $12 billion by 2050, representing $237 billion in cumulative investment. This could climb even higher if Canada can attract data centre developers from other markets.
(Annual spending in 2023 US dollar prices.)
Investment opportunities are emerging from fundamental changes in the telecom industry’s structure. Canadian telecommunications companies are separating infrastructure operations (towers, fibre, and data centres) to unlock value from their existing assets. At the same time, pension funds and private equity firms are establishing dedicated capital pool allocations to acquire these assets and build scaled platforms.
The buildout phase for data centre infrastructure is concentrated in the next few years, peaking in 2029. This near-term intensity reflects hyperscalers’ race to secure capacity as AI demand accelerates. Internet-of-Things deployments, robotics, virtual reality applications, and anticipated quantum computing needs are compounding this pressure. By the 2040s, beyond the buildout peak, investment will shift from capacity expansion toward efficiency and adaptation of existing facilities—a secondary but meaningful long-term opportunity.
As the market matures, investors are showing greater caution. Long-term financing questions, water availability concerns in certain regions, and community resistance could constrain future growth. Data centre developers must also obtain adequate energy supplies—a requirement spurring investments in new power infrastructure, including small modular reactors and hydroelectric facilities.
(Annual spending in 2023 US dollar prices.)
Canada possesses competitive advantages for data centre development: abundant land, fresh water supplies, access to renewable power, and a naturally cool climate that reduces cooling costs. Yet cumulative data centre spend in Canada is expected to lag behind the UK and Australia by 24% and 28%, respectively. The US has also captured significant investment, supported by coordinated regional programs offering streamlined permitting timelines and direct financing support.
But closing these gaps isn’t just about spending more. It’s also about investing differently—moving beyond generic data centre capacity and into sector-specific solutions. Canada’s strengths in mining, agriculture, health, and education give the country a chance to lead. These sectors increasingly rely on hardware deployed in remote locations, gathering insights that must be transported, stored, computed, and converted into decisions. Private wireless networks, edge computing, fibre, and tailored infrastructure can create productivity improvements across this chain. If Canada develops tailored solutions for these sectors, the opportunity shifts from exporting raw compute to exporting integrated solutions.
Infrastructure investments vary in scale, pace, and sectoral focus around the world. The Asia-Pacific region will account for more than half of global investment through 2050—a scale and buildout story across transport, power, and digital, with emerging markets like India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam growing rapidly. The Americas, led by the US, will represent roughly a quarter, with US infrastructure spending forecast to grow 60% by 2050; power dominates the opportunity, supported by renewables and data centre electricity demand.
Europe is largely a renewal story—modernizing transportation, expanding social infrastructure for aging populations, and increasing defence investments. The Middle East is pursuing economic diversification through digital infrastructure, clean energy, and industrial clusters. And Africa offers long-term demand, driven largely by rapid urbanization and trade corridor development.
(Cumulative 2025-2050 spending in 2023 US dollar prices.)
Transportation infrastructure dominates global spending, accounting for one-third of all investment through 2050. Roads and bridges will capture the majority of that spending, though airports represent the fastest-growing transportation subsector. Investments in power infrastructure are accelerating, driven by decarbonization and grid modernization. Resources infrastructure spending is declining globally, primarily due to a projected drop in coal investment.
(Annual spending in 2023 US dollar prices.)
For investors, developers, engineering firms, and construction companies, the global infrastructure landscape offers different opportunities across regions and sectors. As you shape your strategy, considering the following questions helps guide capital and capability decisions:
Where does Canada fit in this shifting global landscape? The country ranks high in absolute infrastructure spending. But when measured as a percentage of GDP, we’re falling behind. Canada currently invests 6.6% of GDP on infrastructure. Our high-performing peers invest 7.4%. That gap constrains Canada’s economic growth and competitiveness. Closing it requires an additional $34 billion annually by 2050. Governments and businesses must act now—investing in common priorities and working together in new ways.
On infrastructure timelines and approvals, business leaders have been vocal: governments must move with greater speed and predictability. The federal government has issued its own call to action, urging businesses to invest and help build the assets, industries, and capacity that will define the next generation of growth. Achieving this requires both sides to rethink how infrastructure is organized, funded, and delivered.
We see momentum: Canada’s Major Projects Office in particular is working to streamline approvals and accelerate delivery of projects in the national interest. And there’s growing recognition that meaningfully engaging Indigenous communities early and ensuring they benefit from infrastructure initiatives, including as investors, can improve project outcomes.
But seizing Canada’s full infrastructure opportunity requires more than speed and purpose. Financing infrastructure differently can make new projects possible. Improving productivity, cost competitiveness, and workforce capacity helps Canadian projects attract global capital. These changes can help Canada capture this moment.
Consider what it will take to develop the Ring of Fire, Ontario’s mineral-rich region located more than 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay. It needs roads. It needs power generation and transmission lines. It needs fibre connectivity. It needs housing and critical social infrastructure such as health care for workers and communities. Without this supporting infrastructure—and without meaningful Indigenous partnerships—mineral development cannot proceed.
This is Canada’s infrastructure requirement: multi-use, integrated systems built together rather than discrete assets constructed in sequence. Boundaries are fading, putting an enormous amount of value in motion across the economy.
For investors, this reconfiguration is equally significant. Infrastructure, real estate, and private equity are converging at the portfolio level. Capital pools that once specialized in one category are now investing across all three, with risk and return profiles blurring. Fund structures are adapting. Investors and asset managers that develop capabilities across traditional asset-class lines can gain greater access to opportunities in Canada and abroad that didn’t exist a decade ago.
Delivering converged infrastructure requires coordination across staggered project phases. Each infrastructure layer must enable the next, serving multiple purposes, users, and communities. But converged projects require more than converged delivery. They require capital structures that can fund infrastructure serving multiple purposes and multiple users.
Convergence creates a distinct financing reality: when a road serves both a mine site and surrounding communities, when a transmission line powers both industry and households, no single user should bear the full financing burden. Community priorities may independently support or constrain these projects—sometimes overriding pure financial considerations.
The structures that follow can work together to facilitate financing from multiple partners. They also illustrate why government’s role is critical in this moment: Canada’s fiscal capacity is constrained, making private capital essential to renewing and building infrastructure. Government must design mechanisms that attract private investment, manage risk, align incentives, and protect taxpayer interests—creating the investable projects private capital requires.
Taken together, these structures give Canada a path to build more infrastructure than current forecasts project. The next question is how Canada builds what that capital enables.
Canada’s engineering companies, construction firms, and infrastructure operators face the same reinvention pressure as other sectors. Participating in tomorrow’s converged, multi-use projects means radically changing how businesses create, deliver, and capture value.
This reinvention is opening doors to non-traditional players. Technology companies, for example, are moving into infrastructure and competing for market share traditionally held by engineering and construction firms. For these new entrants, infrastructure represents a growth opportunity. For incumbents, it signals the need to move faster.
Engineering and construction firms, operators, and the governments that contract them are rethinking how they do business with each other. They’re moving from project-by-project bidding toward outcome-based contracts that tie payment to performance. They’re also exploring infrastructure-as-a-service arrangements that bundle design, construction, operations, and financing into a single commercial relationship. Operators are also moving beyond single-asset ownership to become integrators across power, water, and digital infrastructure.
These models can create predictable revenue streams that attract institutional capital. They also reflect a broader shift toward ecosystem-based value creation. Capturing converged infrastructure opportunities increasingly requires working with partners to create value that no single company can deliver alone. These collaborations bring access to new capabilities, markets, and insights.
Reinventing how infrastructure is built requires a workforce that can operate across asset classes. This reflects a skills-based view of talent that leading organizations in other sectors are already adopting. But this skills-based shift highlights a long-standing challenge: Canada doesn’t produce enough tradespeople to meet today’s infrastructure demand, let alone tomorrow’s.
Closing that gap requires building domestic training pipelines. It will also take targeted immigration to bring in the skills Canada can’t develop fast enough on its own. Other countries offer instructive examples. Germany pairs professional degrees with trade certifications through dual-track programs. Singapore channels non-university graduates into skilled trades through dedicated technical institutes with clear career pathways. Canada can build on these models to develop the workforce its infrastructure ambitions require, helping to keep more of the economic benefit of its investment at home.
Workforce is one dimension of reinvention. Technology is another—and AI is playing a growing role.
On one level, AI has the potential to be an internal productivity tool. Canada’s overall AI adoption rate lags the US, and engineering and construction companies can help close the gap. The opportunity spans the project lifecycle: predictive risk analysis and digital twins in design, AI-enabled approvals and sequencing in planning, automated project controls and integrated data environments in delivery. These capabilities help Canadian companies become more productive, delivering projects faster and competing more effectively for global capital.
But companies are using AI for more than productivity gains. Engineering firms, construction companies, and infrastructure operators are using AI to reshape the services they offer. PwC’s recent AI performance study surveyed more than 1,200 companies on their AI-driven financial performance and on dozens of AI management practices. We found the top performers were 2.6 times more likely than others to say AI had helped them reinvent their business models. The study also revealed the practice most strongly linked to financial returns from AI: using the technology to capture growth from sector convergence, whether by collaborating with companies in other sectors, unlocking value in cross-sector ecosystems, or competing beyond traditional industry lines. That same sector convergence is precisely where Canadian infrastructure’s opportunity sits.
Companies that use AI to accelerate today’s work can become more productive. Those that also use AI to power their reinvention will participate in the infrastructure-related opportunities ahead on different terms.
Reinvention often demands more than internal change. Acquisitions bring in capabilities faster than companies can build them—whether digital expertise, specialized engineering, or geographic reach. And divestitures can free up capital and focus by shedding parts of the business that don’t fit the new model.
Tax can influence the economics of these decisions. From operating model design to transaction structuring, and from capital deployment to credits available for clean technology, R&D, and workforce development, tax considerations affect major reinvention moves. Companies that factor tax in early are better positioned to manage risk, align strategy with tax policy, and achieve appropriate returns on reinvention investments.
The scale of Canada’s infrastructure opportunity is clear. So are the choices ahead—how we integrate infrastructure, fund it, and deliver it differently. Canadian governments, investors, developers, engineers, and operators can shape what comes next. Get it right, and trillions of dollars of investment will deliver more than steel, concrete, and cable. It will build a more productive, resilient, and sovereign Canada.
Realizing this vision requires navigating complexity across sectors, stakeholders, and geographies. It demands connected capabilities across commercial, financial, technical, and operational domains.
That’s where PwC Canada comes in. We support governments, investors, developers, and businesses across the full infrastructure lifecycle—from early ambition through to financing, delivery, operations, and transition. Our multidisciplinary teams help you connect decisions so capital invested today can deliver performance, resilience, and returns over time.
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National Managing Partner, Clients & Markets, PwC Canada
Tel: +1 514 205 5199
National Director connect Program Leader, National Energy, Utilities, and Resources & Industrials and Services leader, PwC Canada
Tel: +1 416 687 8130
National Technology, Media and Telecommunications & Consumer Markets Leader, PwC Canada
Tel: +1 416-670-6244