Public Infrastructure in Canada, 1961-2002

Abstract

Work by Aschauer (1989) triggered a debate in the United States on the role played by public capital in determining productivity and growth; more recently, infrastructure has become an issue in the Canadian public policy debate. This paper sheds some light on this debate by addressing three questions: (i) How large is the stock of public infrastructure in Canada? (ii) What are the main components of that infrastructure? (iii) How has that infrastructure evolved over the last 40 years? The paper also examines the impact of public infrastructure on Canada's standard of living and on the performance of the business sector.