Study: The age of public infrastructure, a provincial perspective

View the most recent version.

The average age of public infrastructure has been falling almost steadily in most provinces for the past seven years. This rejuvenating trend was fuelled mainly by large investments in highways and roads in Quebec and Ontario, according to a new study.

The study, published today in the Analysis in Brief series, examines age status and trends in five key public infrastructures from a provincial perspective, and compares average ages with the useful life of each infrastructure.

It covers five public assets: highways and roads, bridges and overpasses, water supply systems, wastewater treatment facilities and sanitary and storm sewers. The gross value of these assets amounted to $286.2 billion in 2007, 5.3% more than in 2001. Combined, they accounted for more than 80% of all engineering infrastructure owned by federal, provincial and municipal governments in 2007.

In 2007, the average age of Canada's public infrastructure reached 16.3 years, down from its peak of 17.5 in 2000.

A reduction in the average age is indicative of a general trend toward a younger stock of investments. It doesn't necessarily imply that each physical asset is younger or in better condition, or that a greater proportion of assets meets specific quality standards.

Ontario had the youngest public infrastructure system in the country in 2007, followed closely by Prince Edward Island and Alberta. Nova Scotia had the oldest, followed by Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The average age of the five public infrastructure assets was higher than the national average in all provinces east of Ontario in 2007. The single exception was Prince Edward Island, where infrastructure on average was a relatively young 15.5 years, thanks to the Confederation Bridge. Average age in British Columbia was equal to the national average.

In Quebec, all five infrastructures were still older than the national average in 2007, even though investment in highways and roads has been strong since 2001.

Highways and roads drive the rejuvenating trend at the national level

The average age of Canada's public infrastructure—its highways and roads, bridges and overpasses, water supply systems, wastewater treatment facilities and sanitary and storm sewers—has been falling as a whole since 2001.

Highways and roads, the largest component of the five public assets, saw its average age increase steadily from the beginning of the 1970s to a peak of 16.9 years in 1994; by 2007, it had shortened to 14.9 years. The nation's system of highways and roads was valued at $170.1 billion in 2007, representing 59% of the total of the five public assets.

Bridges and overpasses accounted for 8% of the five public assets in 2007. Unlike roads, however, investments in bridges have been under the level required to hold their age constant. Hence, the average age of this asset rose by 3.2 years over a 22-year period, from 21.3 years in 1985 to 24.5 years in 2007. In 2007, the ratio of average age over useful life for Canada's bridges had passed 57%. This ratio was the second highest of the five assets, after wastewater treatment infrastructures.

Water supply systems, including pumping and filtration stations, were the youngest infrastructure in 2007, both in terms of average age and as a percentage of useful life. Between 2001 and 2007, the value of the gross stock for water supply systems increased by 5.1% a year on average, 10 times faster than the growth rate for roads and bridges. As a result, the average age of this stock fell from 16.9 years in 2001 to an all-time low of 14.8 years in 2007.

Unlike other public infrastructure assets, Canada's stock of wastewater treatment plants declined by 1.1% a year on average from 2001 to 2007. The decline spread across most provinces, except Nova Scotia and Alberta. As a result, the average age edged up from 17.4 to 17.8 years. By 2007, wastewater treatment assets had passed 63% of their useful life, the highest ratio among the five assets.

The stock of sanitary and storm sewers has increased 1.0% a year on average since 2001. However, this growth rate was not large enough to reverse the ageing trend; their average age reached a record high of 17.9 years in 2007.

Highways and roads: Average age fell in eight provinces

Since 2001, the average age of roads has dropped in all provinces except Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. Quebec accounted for more than half of this reduction in age. During this seven-year period, the average age of roads in Quebec fell by 2.8 years, from 18.0 years in 2001 to 15.2 years in 2007.

During this period, there were also large declines in Nova Scotia, where the average age fell by 2.2 years, as well as in Saskatchewan (-1.8 years) and Ontario (-1.6 years).

Canada's roads had passed just over half (53%) of their useful life in 2007. This ratio ranged from a low of 49% in Ontario and Prince Edward Island to 61% in Manitoba.

Manitoba had the nation's oldest road network in 2007, even though the average age has edged down from 18.1 years to 17.1 years since 2001.

Bridges and overpasses: Oldest in Quebec

Between 2001 and 2007, the gross capital stock for bridges in Quebec declined 1.3% a year on average, compared with a 0.4% gain nationally. The only other provinces to record negative growth rates during this period were Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

By 2007, bridges and overpasses in Quebec had passed 72% of their useful life, the highest ratio in the nation, compared with 57% nationally.

By contrast, the average age of bridges and overpasses in Prince Edward Island has been younger than the national average since 1961. Between 1993 and 1996, the average age dropped from 21.6 to 6.5 years due to the construction of the Confederation Bridge. The average age in Prince Edward Island has since rebounded closer to its historical range, and by 2007 had reached 15.6 years.

Water supply systems: Young in large part due to Ontario

The rejuvenating trend in water supply systems, from 16.9 years in 2001 to an all-time low of 14.8 years in 2007, was pushed by large investments, especially in British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta.

Nearly 40% of this reduction in age was attributable to Ontario, where the average age dropped by 4.1 years to 13.1 years, the result of new investments.

The only other province in which water supply systems were younger than in Ontario was British Columbia, at 11.4 years in 2007. The average age of this asset has dropped almost steadily since 1981 in British Columbia in response to sustained large investments.

The average age of water supply systems rose in only two provinces: Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Wastewater treatment facilities: Oldest in Prince Edward Island

The average age of Canada's wastewater treatment facilities has been increasing steadily since the late 1970s. In 2007, these facilities passed 63% of their useful life nationally, the highest ratio among the five public infrastructure assets.

The average age of wastewater treatment facilities increased slightly from 17.4 years in 2001 to 17.8 years in 2007. Most of this ageing was led by Quebec, where the average age went from 16.9 years in 2001 to 19.1 years in 2007, second oldest in the country after Prince Edward Island.

British Columbia also contributed to the ageing process at the national level. The average age of its wastewater treatment facilities rose from 14.6 years in 2001 to 17.2 years in 2007.

Sewer systems: Ageing in all provinces except the Prairies and Ontario

The average age of storm and sanitary sewer systems rose slightly in all provinces except Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

The overall moderate ageing trend was fuelled mainly by Quebec, where the average rose from 17.3 years in 2001 to 18.1 years in 2007, and British Columbia, where it edged up from 16.6 to 16.9 years.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the average age of sanitary and storm sewers has been steadily increasing since 1983. The average age went from 14.7 years in 1983 to 20.9 years in 2007, oldest among all provinces.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2803.

The analytical article "Age of public infrastructure: A provincial perspective," part of the Analysis in Brief series (11-621-MWE2008067, free), is now available from the Publications module of our website.

Data on average age and service lives are also available by province and by type of asset. To order data, contact Flo Magmanlac (613-951-2765). For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Valérie Gaudreault (613-951-9731) or Mychèle Gagnon (613-951-0994), Investment and Capital Stock Division.