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Spending on public infrastructure roads, mass transit, water and wastewater treatment plants, power plants, bridges, ports and airports is also good for business, according to two new Statistics Canada studies.

Public infrastructure, or public capital lowers the cost of producing goods in almost every Canadian industry. A well constructed highway gets goods to market sooner. Reduced travel time means the producer has a lower cost and the truck experiences less wear and tear.

The studies say every $1 spent on infrastructure generated, on average, 17 cents of cost-savings each year between1961 and 2000. But they note that in the same period the federal government has retreated from funding 24 per cent to 7 per cent while the municipal share has risen from 31 per cent to 52 per cent.

Download the full report Forty years of proof that public works!