Implement an Infrastructure Strategy that improves social infrastructure.

What success looks like

More Canadians with access to affordable housing, child care, cultural and recreational infrastructure.

Government's narrative on progress

In Budgets 2016 and 2017, the government made significant and long-term investments in social infrastructure across Canada. As of March 31, 2018, over 5,700 projects to retrofit or renovate social housing have been approved, helping improve energy and water efficiency in more than 109,000 existing social housing units off- and on-reserve. The National Housing Strategy re-establishes the federal government as a leader in the area of affordable housing, with the goal of mitigating housing needs for 530,000 households Working in collaboration with provinces, territories and local communities, the strategy leverages significant new capacity to build, repair and make housing more affordable across the country. The investment of incremental resources in the Enabling Accessibility Fund will support an estimated 1,970 additional projects to enable Canadians with disabilities participate more fully in their communities and in the labour market. The government is also creating affordable, high-quality child care spaces for low- and modest-income families, with the goal of supporting up to 40,000 new subsidized child care spaces over the next three years. In addition, the government has developed a distinct Indigenous Framework on Early Learning and Child Care with Indigenous partners, which reflects the unique cultures and needs of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children across Canada. As part of the government’s Investing in Canada Plan, Budget 2016 proposed an investment of $168.2 million dollars over two years in the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund. This fund supports the improvement, renovation and construction of arts and heritage facilities, and the acquisition of specialized equipment. Budget 2017 announced further investments of $300 million in cultural infrastructure over 10 years starting in 2018. Through the Development of Official Language Communities program at Canadian Heritage, the government is investing $80 million over 10 years starting in 2018 to support the construction of community educational infrastructure in official-language-minority communities. The government will also provide $1.3 billion in funding for cultural, recreational and community infrastructure to provinces and territories through bilateral agreements negotiated by Infrastructure Canada.

Note: this is the government's own description, not an independent assessment.