With the passage of Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy Act, our country is entering a new era of nation building. This legislation unlocks the potential for regulatory harmonization, Indigenous partnership, and strategic investment, and it does this across energy, mining and critical minerals, transportation, digital infrastructure, and climate resilience.
But ambition alone won’t deliver results. Success will depend on clear alignment and collaboration, disciplined focus and a relentless sense of urgency. We have to build smarter, faster and better.
Building a resilient economy starts with strong infrastructure
Canada’s infrastructure sector is facing a generational challenge—and a generational opportunity. From ports and energy corridors to data centres and critical minerals mining, the projects ahead will define our country’s economic future.
Yet major projects are inherently risky. KPMG research shows that nine out of 10 large infrastructure projects experience significant cost overruns. Half never reach completion. Others don’t even start, with significant delays in arduous approval processes. The current stakes are too high to let conditions like these persist. Canada needs to rethink how we streamline and build.
A six-pillar approach to major projects success
Developed through 25+ years of experience on Canada’s largest infrastructure projects, KPMG’s six-pillar framework helps leaders avoid common pitfalls to deliver the expected results.
- Investment and business planning: Business development and investment processes that optimize capital allocation.
- Governance and oversight: Structure and rules that establish efficient delivery and effective oversight.
- Organization and performance: Structure and behaviors that organize resources and maximize performance.
- Commercial and financial: Commercial strategy, relationships and risk profile that support success.
- Approvals and social license: Support, licenses and approvals necessary to enable effective delivery.
- Delivery and risk management: Processes and procedures to guide effective project delivery and risk management.