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FCM Infrastructure Economic Return Study — Survey 1 (All municipalities excluding Northern and Arctic)

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), with research and distribution support from PSD Citywide, is quantifying the economic return — in GDP, jobs, business growth, and housing enabled — generated by every dollar your municipality invests in core infrastructure. Findings will be reported in aggregate only, will inform FCM's federal and provincial advocacy in 2026–2027, and will be shared back with participating municipalities.

Time commitment: approximately 15 minutes (17 questions). You'll only be asked questions relevant to your municipality. This survey is voluntary and anonymous; no individual municipality will be identifiable in any published product.

Who should complete: Director of Finance, CAO, Director of Asset Management, or Director of Public Works / Infrastructure.
1.Which best describes your municipality? Select one.
2.In which province are you located? (Territorial municipalities should complete Survey 2 instead.)
3.Asset classes your municipality owns or operates. For each class, indicate Own directly (D), Arms-length (A), or Not applicable.
Own directly (D)
Arms-length (A)
Not applicable
Roads
Bridges and tunnels
Potable water
Wastewater
Stormwater
Public transit
Solid waste
Culture, recreation, sports facilities
Active transportation
Natural infrastructure
4.What was your municipality's approximate total capital infrastructure expenditure in fiscal year 2025 (CAD)?
5.Allocate approximately what share of your fiscal year 2025 capital spend went to each asset class. Totals must sum to 100%. Enter 0 for classes you do not own or manage.
6.Thinking about a typical capital project in your municipality (use your primary asset class from the previous question), allocate the project's spending across the following categories. Totals must sum to 100%. Note on row (a): row (a) refers to where the worker resides, not where the employer is headquartered. Note: If this data is not available, skip to the next question.
7.For your municipality's road construction and rehabilitation projects in 2025, approximately what share of total project cost was paid as wages and salaries (including benefits) to workers, regardless of where they reside? Note: If this data is not available, skip to the next question.
8.Compared with your average annual capital investment between 2020 and 2024, how does 2025 spend compare?
9.Looking forward, how do you expect your municipality's average annual capital spending to change in each future period, compared to 2025? For each time period, select the range that best fits your projection. (Note: the previous question looked at past spending; this question is about future spending.)
More than 50% lower than 2025
20–50% lower than 2025
About the same as 2025 (within ±20%)
20–50% higher than 2025
50–100% higher than 2025
2–3× higher than 2025
More than 3× higher than 2025
2026–2028
2029–2031
2032–2035
10.Comparing your municipality's REQUIRED capital investment over the next 10 years (to maintain state of good repair, accommodate planned growth, adapt to climate, and enable housing supply) against your CURRENTLY PLANNED / FUNDED investment over the same period, what is the approximate gap?
11.Allocate your investment gap across the four channels below. Totals must sum to 100%.
12.For your municipality's water, wastewater, stormwater, and road investments in the past three years (2023–2025), approximately how many net new housing units have been enabled?
13.(follow-up) Which housing-density type best describes the housing enabled?
14.For your largest 2023–2025 infrastructure investment, indicate observed outcomes.
On time / improved
1–3 mo late / 1–10 / unchanged
4–12 mo late / 11–50 / 5–15% better
> 12 mo late / > 50 / > 15% growth
n/a
Project completion vs. plan
Days of service disruption avoided per year
Businesses newly served or expanded in the serviced area
Peak-period congestion change on adjacent road network
Transit ridership change in catchment area
15.The federal Buy Canadian Strategic Procurement Policy has been in force since December 16, 2025. The threshold for procurement in infrastructure, construction, and transportation is $25 million. This threshold drops to $5 million on June 15, 2026. For projects your municipality issues using federal funding above the threshold, do you expect the share of project value retained within Canada to:
16.(follow-up) If you selected 4 or 5, by approximately how many percentage points do you expect the Canadian-retained share to increase?
17.How confident are you in the accuracy of your responses to the spending and investment questions above?