Mary W. Rowe is the CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute, and Karen Chapple is the director of the School of Cities at the University of Toronto. The two organizations recently released new research that details the challenges communities of all sizes are facing.

For most of us living in Canada, hardly a day goes by without noticing the fraying infrastructure – roads, bridges, libraries, health care facilities, etc. – that we depend on every day. Infrastructure may not be the most glamorous topic of conversation, but if we don’t step up our investments, and soon, the risks to our quality of life and democracy will be huge.

From sewers to transit lines to schools, many of the assets that make our daily lives work were built more than half a century ago. Since then, Canada’s population has tripled, far outpacing infrastructure investment.

The gap is plain to see in our housing crisis. In many communities, we are failing to provide both homes and the other necessary ingredients for life, such as water mains, sidewalks and broadband.

The infrastructure deficit in Canada is conservatively estimated to be as high as $270-billion. But that’s just to maintain what we already have. It does not account for what we need to be investing for the future.

Canada desperately needs more rigorous research on our massive and growing nationwide infrastructure deficit, to spur more effective policy-making and investment prioritization.

There is a lot at stake. Increasing economic polarization between the places getting by and those falling further behind. Transit services, highways and bridges deteriorating, while severe weather events push systems to their limit. And mounting social discontent as community institutions that traditionally provide services and opportunities for immigrants, young people and the elderly face cutbacks.

Failing infrastructure equals failed democracy.

In the last century, governments across the Western world became nation-builders – and started by building infrastructure. After the Second World War, Canada invested heavily in public works, peaking at about 3 per cent of GDP in the late 1950s. But this figure dipped to just 1.5 per cent in the last part of the century, leaving a deficit we are still digging ourselves out of today, despite increased spending over the past 20 years.

There are additional constraints, such as large public-sector debt and new pressures such as climate change. Investing in infrastructure, however, is the gift that keeps on giving. It creates high-value jobs and a significant return on investment.

The challenge in 2024 is that no order of government can go it alone. We need multijurisdictional partnerships and new forms of partnerships with the private sector and institutional investors. The recently announced Canadian Infrastructure Council is a start, but it can’t just be advisory. The countries that are planning and building infrastructure most efficiently – Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. – couple their independent national commissions with intergovernmental and private-sector co-ordination, mandates and long-term planning.

The other challenge is jurisdictional. In 1955, local governments owned just 20 per cent of Canada’s infrastructure. Today, that figure is more than half, which has created a ridiculously unsustainable financial burden on any order of government relying principally on property taxes as its source of revenue.

This long-insufficient arrangement is like trying to put your kid through university on the money you earned from your childhood paper route. We need a new arrangement, one that sets out an effective and accountable balance between money and responsibilities.

We need to figure out how we can most efficiently and equitably meet the demands of a diverse population and optimally pay for infrastructure upkeep and expansion, through taxes, user fees or both.

Finally, we must transition from our current ad hoc approach to a more strategic alignment that addresses present and future needs. This includes adapting to a changing climate, enhancing economic competitiveness, fostering complete communities and upholding democratic values. By doing so, we can ensure a resilient, prosperous and inclusive future for all.