Infrastructure banks can help address economic needs

US tariffs have exposed the vulnerable underbelly of the Canadian economy—overdependence on our nearest neighbour. In many cases, Canada lacks the infrastructure to even send the goods we produce to other countries. To open new trade routes, we’ll need to expand our port infrastructure, writes Sebastien Betermier in an intelligence memo for the CD Howe Institute. And that’s just one of the shortcomings of our infrastructure. In Canada, private developers face a catch-22: they need capital to build infrastructure and investors balk at the risk. Infrastructure can help resolve this dilemma in a cost-effective way. These institutions are self-sustaining. They invest in infrastructure that will pay off, and reinvest the proceeds in more infrastructure.