Ontario’s infrastructure demands are stacking up fast. Meeting these needs depends on coordinated planning and support across all levels of government and industry. This includes municipalities, which must balance competing priorities, logistical challenges, and finite resources to deliver on the province’s ambitions. In practice, that means much of the province’s infrastructure push will be planned, coordinated, and delivered at the municipal level.
Municipalities are already managing these pressures on the ground. A 2024 report by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) estimates that infrastructure renewal or new construction will top $290 billion over the next 10 years as jurisdictions across the province accommodate population growth, asset management, and climate adaptation. This tally includes $150 billion for rehabilitation and $100 billion for expansion. For municipalities, that translates into sustained, high-volume delivery across nearly every asset class.
It’s not all high-profile roads, tunnels, and underground initiatives, either. While provincial megaprojects may dominate headlines, the volume and frequency of work sits heavily on the municipal side, where projects are smaller in scale but ongoing and directly tied to how communities function.
“The municipal budgets are enormous,” said Patrick McManus, executive director of the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association. “The regional governments plus the City of Toronto have larger capital programs than the MTO every year.”
Feeling the pressure
It’s little surprise that Ontario’s major hubs are feeling this demand. At the City of Toronto, Jennifer Graham Harkness, chief engineer and executive director of engineering and construction, notes that the city invested in delivering nearly $2 billion worth of infrastructure projects in 2025 alone.
“We are absolutely in an infrastructure moment,” she said. “We have significant state-of-good-repair needs, while at the same time delivering infrastructure to support growth – all within a fully built-out, highly constrained environment.”
Delivering in that environment is not just about scale – it’s about precision, coordination, and timing. For Toronto, the transportation priorities are centred on maintaining and modernizing an already built-out system while improving how people move through it. That includes state-of-good-repair work across more than 5,600 kilometres of roads and roughly 900 bridges and culverts, alongside efforts to ease congestion through traffic signal optimization, transit priority measures, and construction sequencing.
When you open up a road, it’s like spaghetti underground. You’re digging around gas lines, water lines, electrical lines, and fibre optics. It’s a dog’s breakfast down there.
Patrick McManus, Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association
At the same time, the city is advancing safety through its Vision Zero plan, expanding cycling infrastructure, and supporting major transit builds such as the Ontario Line and Scarborough Subway Extension – all while managing construction impacts in a city where available space is limited and disruption is highly visible.
The Regional Municipality of York is also feeling the pressure – particularly as it moves to accommodate up to 2.06 million people and 989,200 jobs by 2051. Like many jurisdictions, York Region is managing shifting priorities between growth and rehabilitation, with asset management taking on an increasing share of available funding. “Ten years ago, about 15 per cent of transportation spending was on asset management and 85 per cent on growth,” said Brian Titherington, director, Transportation Infrastructure Asset Management for York Region. “Today, that’s closer to 30 per cent on asset management – and in 10 years, we expect that to flip.”
Within every municipality, infrastructure work spans both visible and underground infrastructure, from roads and bridges to traffic signals, culverts, and guide rails. Yet, as McManus points out, the most critical work often happens below grade, where systems must be in place before any vertical development can proceed. “It always has to be first,” he said. “Everything is centred around getting water, wastewater, and electricity in the ground before anything else can happen.”
It’s a sequencing reality that shapes every new project, whether it’s a new subdivision or urban intensification, where existing systems are frequently pushed to their limits. “We often run into situations where there isn’t enough water or sewer capacity for high-rises,” said McManus. “Before you can build, you have to upgrade the system and make sure the treatment plants can handle the demand.”
Aligning with provincial plans
Municipal infrastructure planning doesn’t happen in isolation – it is tightly linked to provincial priorities and timelines. In York Region, this alignment is formalized and embedded into long-range planning through the Transportation Master Plan, which includes major transit investments like the Yonge North Subway Extension while advocating for further bus rapid transit expansion. At the same time, the region is working with the province on projects such as the Bradford Bypass and Highway 413, including the local road and interchange improvements needed to support those corridors and ensure they function within the broader network.
In Toronto, that provincial alignment is shown at scale. The city is delivering one of the largest municipal capital programs in the country while partnering with the province on major transit expansions. At the same time, it continues to invest in state-of-good-repair across roads, bridges, and transit infrastructure, while managing congestion and coordinating construction in a fully built-out environment. This includes aligning timelines, sequencing projects, and ensuring that work across agencies supports a shared outcome. The result is a system where provincial investments are not just announced but translated into day-to-day improvements on the ground.
Stretching dollars
Multi-billion-dollar budgets are not always enough to keep pace, particularly amid construction cost inflation and shifting economic conditions. “Construction cost inflation has limited the region’s ability to add major projects to our 10-year construction program,” said Salim Alibhai, the director, Transportation Capital Delivery with York Region.
At the same time, the challenge is not just funding levels – it’s unpredictability, which for industry can be just as challenging as underfunding. Municipalities develop detailed long-term capital plans, but those plans can shift quickly due to economic pressures, changing tax revenues, trade issues, or political decisions. “When budget constraints hit, those plans can be scaled back, or sometimes cut in half, as councils reassess priorities and defer projects,” said McManus. “Those decisions can happen quickly, and there isn’t always a full understanding of the ripple effects.”
Those impacts extend well beyond individual projects, shaping how work is planned, staffed, and delivered across the industry. “It’s not just about dollars in and out – entire companies and workforces depend on that pipeline,” said McManus.
That uncertainty contributes to a start-stop cycle, where projects are delayed or cancelled, workforces fluctuate, and capacity is affected across the system. Over time, that volatility makes it harder to maintain the workforce and expertise needed to deliver consistently. “We’ve run through huge growth in capital budgets and infrastructure portfolios, but we’re only seeing a fraction of that money actually being spent,” said McManus, noting that labour hours dropped by nearly 25 per cent in 2025. “That’s directly tied to spending not happening.”
Even when funding is available, system capacity remains a constraint. There are only a finite number of contractors, engineers, municipal staff, and procurement teams available to deliver projects, and shortages in any one area can slow progress across the board. “We’ve heard from consulting engineers, from municipalities, and there just aren’t enough people across the system,” said McManus.
Inconsistent building
Municipal infrastructure delivery is further complicated by a lack of standardization across jurisdictions. Each municipality operates under its own specifications, contract terms, and construction requirements, meaning infrastructure is built differently from one jurisdiction to the next and, sometimes, even within the same region. For contractors, that creates complexity on every job, requiring time and resources to interpret and adapt to varying standards. The result is a system where efficiency is often sacrificed for local variation.
“You’d think backfill should be the same everywhere,” said McManus. “But everyone wants something different, so it’s never as simple as bidding one job and doing it the same way somewhere else.”
These inconsistencies are compounded by the realities of working in built environments. Limited space requires complex staging and traffic management, while incomplete or outdated underground information introduces uncertainty during excavation. Crews often encounter utilities or conditions that were not identified at the design stage, forcing projects to pause while conditions are assessed and plans are revised. When real-world conditions differ from assumptions, redesigns during construction can trigger delays, approvals, and cost escalation, making delivery less predictable from both a schedule and business standpoint.
Coordination complexities
Municipal infrastructure delivery also requires coordination across multiple stakeholders, and that coordination is not always seamless. In a system with this many moving parts, even small misalignments can have cascading effects. “We’re working in a web of projects, and that requires significant coordination across all divisions and everyone else building in the city,” said Harkness.
With limited road space, municipalities must manage traffic, detours, and overlapping construction activities, often within the same corridor. At the same time, planning processes can remain fragmented across departments and agencies. “The planning process is still disjointed,” said McManus. “Every department is planning independently. You’ll see a street opened up for sewer work one year, then reopened for road work, then again for utilities.”
We’re working in a web of projects, and that requires significant coordination across all divisions and everyone else building in the city.
Jennifer Graham Harkness, City of Toronto
That lack of alignment can lead to repeated work, inefficiencies, and frustration for residents and businesses, while also increasing costs and extending timelines. Projects are often dependent on multiple partners (e.g., utilities, municipalities, contractors, etc.), and if one party is not ready, the entire project can be delayed.
Taking action
To address these challenges, municipalities are taking steps to improve coordination and delivery by adopting more integrated approaches and creating clearer lines of communication. In Toronto, the city has established a Strategic Capital Coordination Office and a chief congestion officer role to help align projects across divisions and manage construction impacts. A Work Zone Coordination Unit supports traffic management during construction and responds in real time to minimize disruption.
“We’re constantly looking at how to minimize disruption to residents, businesses, and road users,” said Harkness. “We want to be out there solving problems with contractors in real time, not waiting, because that just slows everybody down.”
Toronto is also working to improve how project pipelines are communicated and to create more consistent engagement with industry, helping contractors better plan for upcoming work and reducing uncertainty around scheduling. These efforts reflect a broader shift toward more proactive, system-wide coordination rather than reactive problem-solving. York Region is taking a similar approach, focusing on coordination across municipalities, utilities, and the province. This includes bundling utility and roadway work into single contracts to reduce repeated construction windows, coordinating projects across jurisdictions and corridors, and staging asset management work over multiple seasons to improve efficiency.
“We’re incorporating utility work within construction contracts to minimize multiple work windows, and we’re deliberately advancing select asset management activities over multiple construction seasons,” said Alibhai. “This allows contractors to focus on pavement resurfacing as a standalone effort, improving outcomes while reducing disruption to communities.”
York Region has also introduced practical solutions to reduce disruption and improve outcomes, including infrastructure designed to balance environmental considerations with operational needs. In one example, York Region installed permanent wildlife crossings (i.e., salamander tunnels) under Stouffville Road in Richmond Hill, allowing seasonal migration to continue without requiring repeated road closures. In so doing, it has implemented a solution that combines long-term planning, environmental considerations, and coordination that spans multiple agencies.
This is just one example of how the region continues to strengthen collaboration with provincial partners and neighbouring municipalities. At a high level, Alibhai said, “A coordinated approach is essential to reduce impacts to the community, but it also creates timing challenges, as success depends on all partners being ready.”
Evolving procurement models
As with major provincial projects, how work is delivered is becoming just as important as what gets built. Procurement is evolving as municipalities look to better match delivery models to project complexity and reduce inefficiencies. Traditional low-bid models, for example, are being re-evaluated, given that they can transfer significant risk to contractors, particularly in underground work where conditions are uncertain and difficult to fully assess at the bidding stage. “When you open up a road, it’s like spaghetti underground,” said McManus. “You’re digging around gas lines, water lines, electrical lines, and fibre optics. It’s a dog’s breakfast down there.”
Success comes down to better coordination, clearer forecasting, and a real understanding of capacity across the system. Just as important, though, is consistency. If municipalities say they’re going to build, the industry is counting on them to follow through.
Patrick McManus, Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association
In response, municipalities are exploring alternative models that better align risk, expertise, and project complexity. In Toronto, for example, Harkness said, “We’re picking the contract method to match the project. We follow an open, competitive process, but we’re also adopting models like design-build and CMGC [construction manager / general contractor].”
These approaches are already showing results. Speaking to recent work on Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway, Harkness said, “We accelerated that project by 18 months from its original schedule – and we did that in partnership with the province. It has been a really good example of how we’re setting the mindset of working together to go faster and operating with a 24/7 mindset.”
York Region is also taking this moment to reevaluate its procurement and delivery models. According to regional staff, it is moving toward value-based procurement models that recognize contractor performance, experience, and understanding of project requirements, rather than focusing solely on the lowest cost.
Leading by example
Municipalities face no small challenge at this moment – meeting it will require greater consistency, stronger coordination, clearer pipelines, and continued collaboration across industry and government. The path forward is not about a single solution, but about improving how the overall delivery model functions as a whole. “Success comes down to better coordination, clearer forecasting, and a real understanding of capacity across the system,” said McManus. “Just as important, though, is consistency. If municipalities say they’re going to build, the industry is counting on them to follow through.”
Feedback from Toronto and York Region shows municipalities are listening. Moreover, they share a belief that their public and private sector partners are adapting alongside them. “The cooperation and the mindset of how we do this faster has really taken hold,” said Harkness. “As we’re changing how we deliver projects, contractors are adapting alongside us, and you see that in how teams are working together to solve problems in real time and keep projects moving.”
In many ways, municipalities are setting the pace for how = infrastructure is delivered across Ontario – and the success of the province’s broader ambitions will depend on how well that system performs.
