Ottawa - The head of the Federal Infrastructure Agency said a new set of investment orders from the Liberal government should make it easier to deploy more funding in the coming months.

The recent federal budget was added to the Bank of Canada's infrastructure board by requiring spending of public dollars now on private sector-led projects such as small modular reactors, clean fuel production, carbon capture and storage.

The budget change was the latest in a series of agency adjustments created by the Liberals in 2017.
The agency's spring forecasts indicate that investments soared during the past fiscal year ending March 31, with 20 of 28 projects underway completed in the last 12 months.

Cory says that while the pace of projects is expected to remain high, uncertainty from supply chains and global inflationary pressures are affecting project work.

He said, "We are in a world where there are real challenges in supply chains and inflationary pressures in things like the construction market."
"But in the areas we focus on, this is why the private sector and private sector engagement are so important, not so we can try to offload a whole bunch of risks on them because that in the long run is not" .

The Liberals pumped $35 billion of federal funding to the infrastructure bank to pull in two or three times that in dollars, arguing that it would extend Ottawa's ability to fund the construction of more roads, bridges, energy, water and sewage systems.

After a rough start, the Liberals reorganized the agency’s mandate in late 2020 to get more money faster.
Agency year-end figures show it allocated $7.2 billion of its funds to 28 projects recorded on its books, bringing in $7.6 billion in funding from private sector investors or institutions and another $6.1 billion from public partners.

The funds committed by the agency are expected to be repaid as loans, and Cory said repayment has already begun. With funds returning, he said the money is being recycled into other projects that would expand the agency's impact.


The Liberals hope to use the infrastructure bank model again, promising in the April 7 budget to create a similar financing agency to de-risk companies investing in new technology.

Cory sees a difference between his agency and the proposed agency funded through $15 billion of current federal funds, not new ones.
He said technology development, initial marketing, and building a pilot plant, for example, all happen upstream from the infrastructure bank.