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December 14, 2023INFRASTRUCTURE ECONOMIC ACCOUNTS, 2022 [REVISED] Statistics Canada has released revised infrastructure economic accounts data for 2020 to 2022.
These data report the stock of infrastructure, which is diminished by estimated depreciation and increased by investment in new capital. The data are reported for both public and private owners of infrastructure as well as by the type of asset and public service function it performs (categorized in the broad Classification of Functions of Government). Except where public and private infrastructure are explicitly reported, this analysis focuses primarily on infrastructure by function performed, which includes both public and private infrastructure.
At the end of 2022, Nova Scotia's infrastructure net capital stock was $18.3 billion or $17,869 per person. Nationally, infrastructure net capital stock was $967.5 billion or $24,846 per person. Newfoundland and Labrador and Prairie Provinces had the highest per capita infrastructure stock at the end of 2022.
Public infrastructure assets make up 65.6% of infrastructure in Nova Scotia.
In 2022, a total of $2.3 billion in investments in infrastructure were made in Nova Scotia ($2,266 per capita). Nationally, investment in infrastructure was $2,761 per capita. Alberta and British Columbia reported the highest per capita investments in infrastructure while Manitoba reported the least investments. Investment in public infrastructure accounted for over 66.4% of Nova Scotia's investment in infrastructure in 2022.
Across Canada, transportation infrastructure (roads, bridges, canals, rails, ports, airports, pipelines) accounts for the largest portion of the stock of infrastructure: $6,850 per capita. Nova Scotia had less transportation infrastructure per capita at $5,578 in 2022.
Fuel and energy infrastructure (primarily power generation and transmission) accounts for the next largest category of infrastructure by function. Nationally, there was $6,540 in fuel and energy infrastructure per capita with the largest amounts in Newfoundland and Labrador and Manitoba. Nova Scotia's fuel and energy infrastructure capital stock was $4,016 per capita - the second lowest among provinces after Prince Edward Island.
Nova Scotia's 2022 investment in new transportation infrastructure amounted to $900 per capita - below the national average of $994 per capita. The highest investments in transport infrastructure were in Alberta and British Columbia. The lowest investments in transport in 2022 were in Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nova Scotia had $472 per capita in investment in fuel and energy infrastructure, the second lowest after Prince Edward Island. Nationally, investment in fuel and energy infrastructure was $609 per capita with the highest investment in Alberta.
Education (primarily schools, universities, colleges) and health care (hospitals, nursing/residential care buildings) were the next two largest categories of infrastructure by function.
Nova Scotia's education infrastructure amounted to $3,123 per capita in 2022, slightly below the national average of $3,181 per capita. Education infrastructure was highest in Alberta and lowest in New Brunswick.
Nova Scotia had the second lowest per capita health infrastructure among provinces at $1,173. Nationally, there was $1,837 per capita in health infrastructure, with the highest amount in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nova Scotia's investment in education infrastructure was the higher than the national average ($278 per capita) in 2022 at $371 per capita. New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador had the lowest per capita investment in education infrastructure, while Quebec had the highest.
Nova Scotia investment in health infrastructure was $95 per capita, the third lowest among provinces and below the national average of $178 per capita. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest per capita investments in health infrastructure. The lowest amount of per capita health infrastructure investment was reported in Manitoba.
The next three largest categories of infrastructure capital stock by function were: environmental protection (primarily wastewater collection and treatment), housing and community amenities (primarily water infrastructure), and recreation/culture/religion (mostly sport/recreation facilities - both indoor and outdoor).
Nova Scotia has the second lowest per capita stock of housing and community amenities (ie: water) at $785 and the lowest per capita stock in environmental protection infrastructure (ie: wastewater) at $1,017. Saskatchewan had the highest housing/community per capita stock and Alberta had the highest per capita stock in environmental/wastewater infrastructure.
Nova Scotia's recreation infrastructure amounted to $887 per capita in 2022, below the national average of $1,147. The highest recreational capital stock per capita was in Saskatchewan and the lowest in New Brunswick.
Nova Scotia's per capita investments in housing/water infrastructure ($64 per capita) and environmental/wastewater infrastructure ($65 per capita) were below the national averages. Saskatchewan reported the largest investments per capita in housing/water while Prince Edward Island reported the highest per capita investments in environmental/wastewater infrastructure. Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island reported the lowest investments per capita in housing/water. Newfoundland and Labrador also had the lowest investment in environmental/wastewater infrastructure.
Nova Scotia's investment in recreation infrastructure was $99 per capita, below the national average of $121 per capita. Quebec reported the largest per capita investments in recreation infrastructure while Manitoba reported the lowest.
Infrastructure for communications (cables, structures), public transit (buses, rolling rail stock) and public order/safety buildings had the smallest value of per capita stocks as reported by public service function.
Nova Scotia reported communications infrastructure stock of $787 per capita. National communications infrastructure per capita was $1,013 with the highest amount in New Brunswick.
Nova Scotia's public transit equipment stock was $142 per capita in 2022. The Atlantic provinces had the lowest per capita value of public transit infrastructure. Nationally, there was $548 in public transit infrastructure per capita. The highest amounts were in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Nova Scotia had $359 per capita in public order and safety infrastructure in 2022. This was below the national average of $383 per capita. The highest public order and safety infrastructure per capita was in Manitoba and the lowest in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan.
Nova Scotia reported lower than national average investments per capita in communications, public transit and public order and safety in 2022. Communications investment was highest in New Brunswick. Public transit investments per capita were highest in western provinces and lower across Atlantic Canada, excluding Prince Edward Island. Public order and safety investments per capita were highest in Manitoba and British Columbia (lowest in New Brunswick).
When measured at constant prices, the stock of Nova Scotia infrastructure assets remained largely stable from 2000 to 2008. Since then, there has been mostly steady increases in the stock of infrastructure in Nova Scotia (except 2015).
Transportation infrastructure in Nova Scotia has been rising steadily, with accelerated growth since 2019. Fuel and energy infrastructure exhibits periods of rapid increases (2009-2010 and 2015-2017) followed by periods of stability.
Nova Scotia's education infrastructure has risen substantially since 2008 and particularly since 2020. Health infrastructure stock declined from 2012 to 2017 (including depreciation) but has started to increase again.
Nova Scotia's housing (ie: water) infrastructure has been flat since 2019. Environmental (ie: wastewater) infrastructure values trended down from 2012 to 2022. Recreation infrastructure increased substantially from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2016 to 2022.
Communications infrastructure trended down in most years from 2003 to 2015 (except 2010 and 2011). There were substantial increases in Nova Scotia's communications infrastructure stock from 2015 to 2022.
Nova Scotia's public transit equipment stock rose (in real terms) for most of the period from 2001 to 2017 but has declined since then.
The stock of Nova Scotia's public order and safety building infrastructure has generally trended down with a few exceptions (2001, 2005, 2012-2014).
Infrastructure can also be measured by the "average age" of the assets used in public service functions. The average age of all infrastructure in Nova Scotia was 13.6 years in 2022, above the national average of 13.1 years. The oldest infrastructure in Canada was reported in New Brunswick while the newest was reported in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nova Scotia's fuel and energy infrastructure (mostly electric power generation and transmission) had an average age of 16.1 years in 2022, which was above the national average age of 15.0 years. The oldest fuel and energy infrastructure was in New Brunswick and the newest in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nova Scotia's transport infrastructure had an average age of 10.4 years in 2022, just above the national average of 10.2 years. Newfoundland and Labrador had the oldest transport infrastructure while Saskatchewan had the newest.
Nova Scotia's health infrastructure (hospitals, nursing/residential care facilities) had an average age of 16.6 years, which was above the national average of 14.4 years. New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Manitoba had the oldest health infrastructure while Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec had the newest.
Nova Scotia's education infrastructure (schools, colleges, universities) had an average age of 15.0 years in 2022, which was newer than the national average (15.7 years). New Brunswick and Saskatchewan had the oldest education infrastructure in 2022.
Nova Scotia's housing/water (17.3 years) and environmental/wastewater (18.5 years) infrastructure assets were older than the national averages. Nova Scotia was tied with Saskatchewan for the oldest average housing/water infrastructure. Environmental infrastructure was oldest in Manitoba followed by Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia's recreation facility infrastructure had an average age of 9.7 years in 2022 - the second newest recreation infrastructure among provinces. Manitoba, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador had the oldest recreation infrastructure.
Nova Scotia's infrastructure for public transit equipment (11.4 years) and communications (8.3 years) were older than national averages. Nova Scotia's public order and safety buildings had an average age of 18.6 years, tied with Prince Edward Island for oldest among provinces. Nationally, public transit equipment had an average age of 9.4 years with the newest infrastructure in Prince Edward Island. Communications infrastructure had an average age of 7.9 years across Canada with the newest infrastructure in Saskatchewan. Public order and safety building infrastructure had an average age of 15.2 years, with the newest infrastructure in Alberta.
Notes: Infrastructure is defined as physical structures and systems that support the production of goods and service and their delivery to and consumption by governments, business and citizens. Infrastructure assets are tangible assets that generally enable or perform a support function and includes both economic asset (i.e. highways, road, energy generation/transmission, sewage systems) and social assets (i.e. hospitals, schools, pollution abatement, recreation facilities, law enforcement facilities). The value of the capital stock is measured using perpetual inventory method where investment are positive flows that accumulated the asset which is depreciated over time as assets age. Assets in the data can be separated by purchasing sector, asset type, or function. Infrastructure assets do not include all types of non-residential assets, for instance buses and trains are included while some other types of mobile assets (defense ships, aircraft, ambulances) are not considered part of infrastructure assets.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0608-01 Infrastructure Economic Accounts, investment and net stock by asset, industry, and asset function (x 1,000,000); Table 36-10-0610-01 Infrastructure Economic Accounts, economic impact by asset, industry, and asset function (x 1,000,000); Table 36-10-0611-01 Infrastructure Economic Accounts, average age and remaining useful service life ratio by asset and asset function
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