Commonwealth_ The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) will fall significantly short of its 2028 investment targets, a new report released Thursday by the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) predicts. The report is forecasting the Crown corporation to invest just $14.9 billion by the 2027-28 fiscal year, well short of its ambitious $35 billion goal.
The shortfall, standing at more than $20 billion, highlights fresh concerns around the CIB’s record in fulfilling its mandate to accelerate infrastructure growth through strategic investments in key sectors. The $14.9 billion disbursement target is also $1 billion short of an earlier PBO calculation in 2021.
In 2017, the federal government established the Canada Infrastructure Bank with the mandate to use public funds to attract private sector investment in Canadian infrastructure. Its primary mandate is to fund large-scale projects across five priority areas of public transit, green infrastructure, clean energy, broadband connectivity, and trade and transportation. It also has a separate $1 billion Indigenous-led projects fund, which it successfully completed.
But the PBO analysis shows that the CIB is missing its investment targets in all five priority sectors. Under the report, the one priority sector that might just meet its $5 billion investment threshold is public transit by extending its deadline to 2029-30. Extrapolating on existing trends, the PBO foresees that the CIB won’t meet its overall $35 billion disbursement target until 2034-35, seven years past its original deadline.
The PBO distinguishes between financial closes, which signify the official conclusion of transactions, and disbursements, which refer to the actual payment of funds to projects. Though the internal reports of the CIB document financial closes totalling $16.8 billion so far, the PBO targets actual disbursements, which are lower.
In response to the exposés, the Conservative Party issued a statement calling the CIB a “failure.” They pointed to the PBO note that the majority of the bank’s co-investments have been from public sector sources and not private industry. Although the shortfall has reduced in more recent years, with the private sector now beginning to invest into the public coffers more balanced since 2022-23, the Conservatives argue that the CIB has yet to realise its potential to draw private capital.
“The Liberals must get the government out of the way so that builders will build again,” the release stated, vowing that a Conservative government would lower taxes and red tape to encourage private investment in infrastructure.
Katarina Michalyshyn, who wrote the PBO report, said the gap between financial close and disbursement figures is due to the length of time it takes for infrastructure projects to deliver. “Disbursements more accurately capture the real level of money spent to advance projects on the ground,” she explained.
In its turn, the Canada Infrastructure Bank explained its performance in a press release, referring to the long-term nature of infrastructure investments. The bank explained it has financed 100 projects so far, and seven have been completed. The spokesperson also added that most projects require three to five years of financing to be completed, which naturally creates a gap between committed and disbursed funds.
Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada also issued a statement in support of the bank’s funding timeline. “The Canada Infrastructure Bank received statutory financing of $35 billion to increase investment in Canada’s infrastructure with no set time frame to spend the money,” said the statement.
As infrastructure remains a pillar of Canada’s economic and environmental platform, particularly in the development of clean energy and digital connectivity, the CIB’s ability to meet its financial and strategic goals is increasingly under fire from political pundits and fiscal hawks alike. Whether the bank can accelerate its releases to meet targets or requires its mandate overhauled will be revealed in the lead-up to 2028.
