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Infrastructure

Infrastructure is the foundation upon which we build entire societies and economies. It underpins sustained well-being. IFSD has developed a best-practice framework for driving better infrastructure performance in an uncertain world, navigating trade-offs due to scarce fiscal resources and linking assets and investments to the outcomes that citizens want.

Relevant IFSD Projects

Front-end due diligence

The IFSD team was retained by a provincial government seeking to determine whether the costing of a proposed telecom infrastructure project was reasonable.  The team built a cost estimating relationship model to build a normative (i.e. should cost) lifecycle estimate for the project.  The unique data acquired by the team enabled a very high quality statistically based estimate (phase 1) which was subsequently validated by a bottom-up engineering estimate (phase 2).  The resulting reduced fiscal allocation is expected to save the government $700 million+ over the project lifecycle.

Performance Framework

IFSD was retained by the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and First Nations Caring Society to work with First Nations child and family services (FNCFS) agencies to develop a wellbeing-based performance framework that functioned at the level of child, family and community.  The performance framework framed a bottom-up FN community-based approach to budgeting and results that is expected to be core to the program, operating and capital planning for First Nations and their delegated CFS agencies.  The overall reform package being negotiated between Canada and the parties is expected to be up to $20 billion over the next five years.

Long-term needs assessment

IFSD provided the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) with a long-term, 30-year, forecast of on-reserve housing needs.  The research project included considerations for demographics, costing and family formation.  AFN was successful in obtaining $2 billion in Budget 2021 for first nations housing.

Thought leadership

Infrastructure Canada asked the IFSD (via contribution agreement) to develop a methodology for an infrastructure assessment that could be used by all three orders of government in Canada.  IFSD leveraged best practices from leading jurisdictions such as the UK, Australia and New Zealand to develop a novel assessment approach that concurrently targets economic growth, inclusion, environment and resilience.  

Best value procurement

A provincial government asked the IFSD team to critically assess the appropriate procurement approach to ensure best value for taxpayers for a large-scale infrastructure project (i.e. sole source vs. competitive).  Important considerations were identified for price, value, technology as well as the assessment and transfer of risk.  The government accepted the recommendation and changed its procurement strategy to pursue a competitive tender based on the project’s research findings.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Is the methodology available for public use?

    The methodology was funded through Infrastructure Canada’s Research and Knowledge Initiative (RKI) program that is intended to advance the understanding of public infrastructure issues in Canada and facilitate collaboration, data, research and knowledge-sharing activities.  The intellectual property associated with the methodology rests with the IFSD and must be cited accordingly.

  • Is the IFSD able to support in the implementation of the methodology?

    Yes. The IFSD provides independent infrastructure advisory services to jurisdictions both in Canada and abroad.

  • What are the next steps for the methodology?

    The methodology is intended to be a platform for any jurisdiction intending to undertake an Infrastructure Needs and Performance Assessment in whole or in a focused manner.

  • What are the first steps in implementing this comprehensive methodology?

    Generally, jurisdictions must undertake the following: (1) engage in public consultations to understand how citizens and stakeholders define well-being for their communities, (2) Develop and implement an outcomes-based performance measurement framework, and (3) evaluate the performance of the current infrastructure asset base, (4) integrate the current stock evaluation, the performance assessment and public consultations to determine gap relative to community need and preferences.