It’s time we treat campus infrastructure as a nation-building project
July 24, 2025
By: Gabriel Miller, President and CEO, Universities Canada
This op-ed was published in The Hill Times on July 14, 2025.
Investments in universities are practical and high-impact investments that will create new jobs, deliver value for taxpayers and strengthen Canada’s competitiveness.
Canada is having an urgent and overdue conversation about housing and infrastructure. But if we want real solutions, we need to include one of our most powerful and underused nation-building tools: our university campuses.
Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson recently called for a wartime effort to rebuild Canada’s aging infrastructure—a bold statement and exactly the kind of ambition this moment demands.
But that effort won’t succeed without the full strength of Canada’s universities. Their land, research capacity, talent, and innovation are essential to getting it done.
Across the country, campuses are more than classrooms. They are community hubs where students live, communities gather, and ideas become real-world solutions. Universities not only support students, but also families, seniors, workers and small businesses offering services like child care, health clinics, libraries, gyms, pools, and theatres used daily by the community.
Universities help sustain critical infrastructure by supporting water systems, roads, bridges and local transit. In many communities, daily use by students, faculty, and staff keeps public transportation like buses and light rail viable for the entire community.
And yet, universities are routinely left out of federal programs designed to support community infrastructure.
This is a missed opportunity. Campus infrastructure is community infrastructure. Investing in universities means investing in local economies, a stronger workforce, and vital services that support people of all ages.
The clearest example is student housing.
Canadian universities currently house more than 135,000 students, which helps ease pressure on local rental markets, especially in smaller and mid-sized communities where vacancy rates are low and costs are high. In many communities, expanding student housing is one of the fastest and most efficient ways to increase the supply of affordable homes for all.
Student housing is Canadian housing, but most universities can’t access the federal programs available to other builders. Borrowing limits, regulatory hurdles, and funding constraints mean even shovel-ready projects remain stalled.
The federal government’s recent $2-billion commitment specifically for housing for seniors and students is a welcome sign.
But if support comes only through loans, many universities will be left out. What is needed now is a dedicated student housing strategy with targeted grants, streamlined approvals, and support for private-sector partnerships that can turn plans into projects. At the same time, we need to look beyond housing and address the broader state of infrastructure on Canadian campuses.
The situation is serious. Years of underfunding, rising costs, and inflation have left a national maintenance backlog of over $17-billion. One in three infrastructure projects is now considered critical or near critical. These include essential upgrades to heating systems; accessibility; and research labs for work in AI, clean energy and medical innovation.
Yet most universities remain ineligible for federal infrastructure funding despite significant economic impact.
Each year, universities support more than 400,000 jobs and contribute more than $45-billion to Canada’s economy through salaries, local procurement, and infrastructure projects. Their research drives real-world innovation across sectors like agriculture, aerospace, health care and climate resilience.
We know what works. The Knowledge Infrastructure Program, launched by a previous federal government, showed the lasting value of investing in post-secondary infrastructure. It created jobs, reduced maintenance backlogs and strengthened Canada’s research capacity. By allowing provinces to set priorities, it ensured funding met local needs and delivered real benefits to both campuses and the communities.
It’s now time for a renewed version that is focused on today’s challenges such as student housing and sustainable infrastructure that could deliver a national long-term impact.
This isn’t about special treatment for universities but about recognizing their growing role in solving national priorities.
There are three clear steps the federal government can take right now:
- Make housing programs work for student residences by offering grant-based options and flexible financing tailored to post-secondary institutions;
- Ensure campus infrastructure is eligible for federal programs, especially projects that serve the public and drive innovation; and
- Work with the provinces to streamline approvals and remove administrative barriers.
These aren’t luxuries; they’re practical, high-impact, nation-building investments that will create new jobs, deliver value for taxpayers and strengthen Canada’s competitiveness.
If we’re serious about a wartime-level response to Canada’s infrastructure crisis, we need to mobilize every asset we have.
Universities are ready to do their part. Let’s treat them as full partners in building what’s next.
Our country’s success is built on a promise to all Canadians: that a better life is within reach for anyone willing to work hard and contribute to their community. Now is the time for Canada’s new government to lead with purpose and urgency. That starts with bold investments in made-in-Canada research and talent. For more information visit universitiesdeliver.ca
