Proactive climate adaptation can cut Ontario public infrastructure costs: watchdog – Ontario Construction News

November 27, 2023

The dangers of a changing climate could add more than $4 billion per year to the cost of maintaining Ontario’s public infrastructure over the rest of the century, the province’s financial watchdog said Wednesday.

But the report from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario said the province and municipalities can cut those costs by proactively making hospitals, schools, stormwater pipes and other public infrastructure more resilient to extreme heat and rainfall.

The summary report is the culmination of four years of work at the FAO to estimate the budgetary impacts of changing climate hazards on Ontario’s public infrastructure.

“There are a lot of risk assessments, but this is a unique work in that we do provide these costings,” said Edward Crummey, the FAO’s economics and fiscal analysis director.

Ontario’s outdated infrastructure design has contributed to its climate vulnerability.

Read More: https://www.ontarioconstructionnews.com/proactive-climate-adaptation-can-cut-ontario-public-infrastructure-costs-watchdog/