Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Colleagues, I am pleased to be here to discuss the recent budget, and more specifically the measures to support infrastructure investments across the country.
It's good to be back. As I mentioned the last time I visited, I spent a few years sitting on this committee and find the work engaging. I'm glad to be able to continue to work with all of you to advance the work on behalf of Infrastructure Canada.
I'll obviously be focusing on some measures in the recent federal budget, but I'm happy to take what questions you may have from across the portfolio.
It's important to reflect on why investing in infrastructure is important. It has an opportunity to create jobs in the short term, certainly, but also to build stronger communities and more vibrant economies, if we make smart investment decisions that help set the stage for long-term economic growth and healthy, livable communities.
There are a number of different ways I can see this happening. You don't have to think too long before you come up with examples of the types of essential infrastructure the federal government funds in your communities. In fact, I hazard to guess there's not a member of Parliament here whose riding hasn't benefited from tens or perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars in federal infrastructure investment since 2015.
The different kinds of infrastructure that you'll see we tend to focus on includes municipal infrastructure, like water and waste water to help enable more housing output; public transit infrastructure to make sure people in communities both big and small can access the services and opportunities that set them and their families up for success; different kinds of road or bridge projects, which are essential for transportation networks in communities of different sizes; and climate-resilient infrastructure to make sure our communities are set up to withstand the challenges of more severe weather events with the changing climate. We're making investments to ensure that we have access to clean electricity not only to power our communities today but also to solicit industrial opportunities from clean-growth players in the economy who are pursuing clean-growth opportunities in Canada. There's also recreational, cultural and heritage infrastructure that makes our communities more vibrant and dynamic places to live.
As you go through each of these different types of infrastructure, you realize that, in most instances, there's some kind of corresponding federal fund to help out with the cost. I mentioned municipal infrastructure including water and waste water. This is essential not only to put people to work installing the pipes that are necessary for a functioning water and waste-water system, but also to make sure that we can build more houses and achieve what has become a major social concern for Canadians, particularly young Canadians, which is building out the housing stock to cure the supply gap that exists.
This is where the new Canada housing infrastructure fund comes in. It's a $6-billion fund through which we're contributing to the cost of these municipal infrastructure projects. We're also negotiating with municipalities and provinces to ensure that, as we make investments in infrastructure, decisions are being taken at a more local level to ensure that we get the most out of the infrastructure that already exists. This is going to reduce the cost for municipal taxpayers but also make it cheaper for people to live in communities near services and opportunities and, frankly, the infrastructure that already exists.
Some of the ways we're going to do this include saying to our partners in negotiations that they can have access to this money if they adopt certain kinds of changes, including more as-of-right zoning, to make it easier to maximize the capacity of existing infrastructure. That includes placing a freeze on development cost charges, so that we don't just increase the cost of building new homes, which places the price further out of reach for people who are not already in the market.
The adoption of the designs in the upcoming national home design catalogue, and a series of other measures, will make it easier and faster to build homes and to reduce the cost pressures on the infrastructure.
Similarly, with public transit, we're not just saying we're transferring money carte blanche to build out a system with no federal input. We want to make sure that we have enough riders for those systems and we want to increase density within walking distance to those transit stations, so that we're building more sustainable public transit systems that allow us to get the best return for every dollar we invest.
When it comes to community and cultural spaces, it's important to me that we continue to invest, in particular in the green and inclusive community buildings fund, which received a top-up of $400 million in the recent federal budget, on top of the $4-billion program, which is helping ensure that communities have access to those vibrant community and cultural spaces.
There are a number of different funds that we continue to have on the table, whether it's the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund, provincially managed funds that are run through bilateral agreements such as the investing in Canada infrastructure program, or funds that support infrastructure that are run through other departments, like the national trade corridors fund or funds through Canadian Heritage for cultural spaces.
You'll see that this is a priority for the current federal government because we want to help with the cost of building communities, and we would be very happy to take what questions you may have on our plans to do so.
Thank you so much, everyone. It's a pleasure to be here.
