Ontario towns face billions in climate-proof upgrades, private funding remains uncertain

A recent flood that dumped nearly 400 mm of rain on Lincoln, Ontario, left the town’s chief administrative officer warning that it cannot afford the $100 million needed for routine infrastructure repairs, let alone the $350 million required to upgrade roads, transit and water mains to withstand future climate events. Across the province, municipalities are slated to invest $250 billion in capital projects over the next ten years, and climate-related upgrades could add about $4.1 billion to annual maintenance costs, most of which would fall on local governments that manage roughly 70 percent of the infrastructure.

Riley Brockington of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario called for predictable, long-term funding from higher levels of government. At a Toronto conference, experts and municipal leaders discussed the limits of public money and the potential for private-sector involvement, though they stressed the difficulty of creating revenue models for projects that mainly prevent losses. John McNally of the Canada Infrastructure Bank suggested a “resilience utility” model, where households and businesses contribute to the cost of community-wide upgrades. Lincoln’s Michael Kirkopolous said private partnerships could be viable if strong regulation ensures public safety remains the top priority.