FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
[La version française suit le texte anglais.]
ONTARIO’S INFRASTRUCTURE BACKLOG WAS $16.8 BILLION IN 2020-21
TORONTO, November 26, 2020 – Today, the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) released a report that provides an overview of the infrastructure assets owned by the Province, assesses the state of repair of those assets, and estimates the cost to bring Provincial infrastructure into a state of good repair in 2020-21 and over the next 10 years.
Infrastructure assets owned or controlled by the Province include transit, highways and bridges, hospitals, schools and colleges, and government offices, correctional facilities and courthouses. The FAO estimates that the current replacement value of the Province’s infrastructure was $265.6 billion as of March 31, 2020.
Based on a review of asset condition data provided by the Province, the FAO found that 34.7 per cent of Provincial assets are currently not in a state of good repair. By sector, nearly half of hospital sector assets are not in a state of good repair, while the highways and bridges sector has a relatively higher share of assets in a state of good repair (77.3 per cent), compared to the provincial average.
The FAO estimates that the cost to bring the Province’s assets into a state of good repair (in other words, to eliminate the infrastructure backlog) was $16.8 billion in 2020-21. Hospital sector assets represent the largest share of the infrastructure backlog at $4.8 billion, followed by transit ($4.0 billion) and schools ($3.7 billion).
Over the next 10 years, the FAO estimates that the cost to eliminate the infrastructure backlog and maintain the Province’s assets in a state of good repair will be $64.5 billion. However, based on a review of the 10-year capital plan in the 2019 Ontario Budget, the FAO found that the Province had allocated only $47.7 billion to capital repairs. As a result, the 2019 budget’s capital plan will not adequately address the Province’s infrastructure backlog over the next 10 years.
To learn more, read the full report here.
Quick facts:
- Highways and bridges ($84.7 billion), schools ($68.1 billion) and hospitals ($58.5 billion) account for nearly 80 per cent of the value of the Province’s infrastructure assets.
- Ontario’s highways and bridges sector has the lowest infrastructure backlog relative to the value of the sector’s assets (2.2 per cent), implying that assets in this sector are in relatively better condition compared to the provincial average.
- Ontario’s transit sector has the largest infrastructure backlog relative to the value of the sector’s assets (16.7 per cent), implying that assets in the transit sector are in relatively worse condition compared to the provincial average.
- Based on the capital plan in the 2019 budget, the FAO projects that the Province’s infrastructure backlog will deteriorate over the next 10 years, reaching $22.7 billion by 2029-30.
- Highways and bridges is projected to be the only sector with sufficient funding over the next 10 years to maintain its assets in a state of good repair. All other sectors have been allocated inadequate funding, with the most significant shortfall occurring in the transit sector, with a $7.2 billion funding gap.
About the FAO
Established by the Financial Accountability Officer Act, 2013, the Financial Accountability Office (FAO) provides independent analysis on the state of the Province’s finances, trends in the provincial economy and related matters important to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Visit our website at http://www.fao-on.org/en/ and follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/InfoFAO.
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For further information, please contact:
Jessica Martin | 647.527.2385 | JMartin@fao-on.org | fao-on.org