Submission to Infrastructure Canada for the Legislative Review of the Canada Infrastructure Bank Act

CAGBC made a submission to Infrastructure Canada for the Legislative Review of the Canada Infrastructure Bank Act, and here are our recommendations:

The mandate detailed in the CIB Act should be amended as followed:

1. The purpose of the Bank is to invest, and seek to attract investment from private sector investors and institutional investors, in infrastructure projects in Canada or partly in Canada that will generate revenue, and that will be in the public interest, and support the federal objective of reaching net-zero by 2050 by, for example, supporting conditions that foster economic growth or by contributing to the sustainability of infrastructure in Canada.
2. Through the statement of priorities and accountabilities, the federal government should specifically state that an objective of the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) is to support the decarbonization of the built environment in accordance with the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan.
3. Considering the successful uptake by industry and the necessity to advance deep carbon retrofit of commercial and public buildings in Canada by 2050, the CIB’s Commercial Retrofits Initiative must be continued, its budget extended, and it should require net zero transition plans as a requirement for its clients.
4. As embodied carbon will be included in Canada’s building codes by 2030, the CIB should add to the Green Infrastructure priority area an initiative to de-risk investment in new zero-carbon buildings that greatly reduce embodied emissions from materials and processes.