Thursday, February 26, 2026

Ontario’s Infrastructure Boom and What It Means for You

With over $220 billion in planned capital projects, strong advocacy from CLAC and PCA is ensuring members and contractors have a fair opportunity to share in the work that’s building Ontario’s future.

Ontario Construction Construction

By Stephen Hamilton, Director of Public Affairs (Ontario), Progressive Contractors Association of Canada

Over the next decade, the Ontario government has laid out one of the most substantial infrastructure investment plans in provincial history. In the 2025 budget, the province projected a 10-year capital plan totalling approximately $223.1 billion for infrastructure spending from now to 2035. Of that total, about $191.1 billion is earmarked for investments in capital assets—things like highways, hospitals, schools, and transit projects that people use every day.

There are massive projects like Highway 413, which will connect Highways 400 and 401 west of Toronto as well as multibillion-dollar new hospitals in Peel, Kingston, and Windsor. New investments are also being made enhancing fiber-optic networks across the province.

With increasing geopolitical uncertainty, these projects are critical to ensuring our province and country remain competitive in global markets and responsive to local needs.

For CLAC members, these are not abstract numbers. They represent potential work sites, job opportunities, apprenticeships, and long term careers that span years and even decades. When government puts this amount of money into infrastructure, it creates demand for skilled labour in every trade: carpenters, electricians, pipefitters, plumbers, heavy equipment operators, labourers, and more. The volume and scale of projects coming online should mean consistent, meaningful work for members and contractors who are ready and able to compete.

But to turn investment dollars into real jobs that benefit members, there needs to be a strong, unified voice representing contractors along with workers. That’s where CLAC working collaboratively with the Progressive Contractors Association (PCA) adds value. Having a unified contractor voice ensures worker and employer voices have a place where decisions get made at Queen’s Park and municipalities across Ontario.

Both CLAC and PCA advocate for procurement practices that are based on quality, safety, and respect for taxpayer dollars. We also support a training and apprenticeship system that prioritizes workers so that in-class training opportunities are there when you need them so you can level up.

While most of the $223 billion spent over the next decade is up for grabs through competitive procurement, there are still areas where we aren’t allowed to compete. The City of Toronto remains the only municipality that shuts out CLAC contractors on important construction projects.

Ontario’s energy sector also shuts out CLAC members as transmission infrastructure through Hydro One and energy projects through Ontario Power Generation and Bruce Power block CLAC contractors from even bidding on the work. This is why collective advocacy is critical.

To counter unfair procurement, CLAC and PCA’s role in advocacy is educating decision-makers at Queen’s Park on the benefits of our labour model and showcasing the impressive projects CLAC members and contractors build in communities across Ontario.

With a decade’s worth of capital spending ahead, the volume of work will be large, but so will the competition. A united presence through CLAC and PCA gives us a stronger platform to ensure provincial capital dollars continue to increase and procurement practices remain fair. While other associations and labour groups advocate for special treatment in bidding, all we ask for is a level playing field.

Ontario’s infrastructure plan isn’t about one project. It’s about years of steady, meaningful work for the skilled trades we represent. Working together collaboratively, CLAC members and contractors can help build Ontario’s infrastructure and benefit from the work it brings.

Ontario’s Infrastructure Boom and What It Means for You

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