Summer 2026, VOL. 66, NO. 2
Since surpassing the 40-million population milestone in 2023, Canada’s population has continued to grow rapidly, with significant implications for planning. As growth is not solely confined to Canada’s largest metropolitan areas, communities of all sizes are experiencing both the challenges and opportunities that come with demographic expansion.
With this growth, communities face increased demands for more housing, commercial and employment lands, a wider range of transportation options, public amenities and services, and social infrastructure – while also needing to be socially, environmentally, and economically responsible.
This brings up a fundamental and pressing question: as Canadian communities continue to grow, how do we pay for the infrastructure and services needed to satisfy growth pressures – and just as importantly, who should bear the cost?
The Summer edition of Plan Canada examines the financial, institutional, and political structures of growth in Canadian communities. As traditional funding tools – including property taxes, development cost charges, user fees, and upper-level government transfers – are stretched or contested, planners are navigating increasingly difficult trade-offs when it comes to funding growth.