I just passed my five-year anniversary, and I believe Frédéric is at seven.
The CIB was launched.... Our first employee was hired in 2018, so we're still a relatively young organization. We've learned a lot along the way. I'll tell you three things that I think have made a big difference for us in our journey.
First, we have learned the power of collaborating with the provinces, territories and municipalities. Canada is a vast country with a sparse population. The infrastructure needs across our country are varied. They're not the same in B.C. as they are in northern Quebec or the Northwest Territories. Working with local owners of infrastructure.... Lots of the infrastructure in our country is owned by the provinces, municipalities and territories, including first nations, Métis and Inuit governments. That's lesson number one. If you look at all of our big successes, they've come when we've worked really closely with others. That also includes working really closely with federal counterparts to make sure we're aligned to the policy goals of the shareholder.
The second thing we've learned is that, with our investments, we can help solve two of the main reasons infrastructure projects get stalled in this country. There are many reasons that infrastructure projects get stalled, but there are two that we can really address. One is the affordability of projects. Infrastructure projects often last 50, 75 or 100 years. There are huge upfront costs to building them. We can help to smooth that out by managing them and easing the burden on today's ratepayers or users of the infrastructure.
The other way is in helping to share the risk that comes with projects. Oftentimes, you're building something for a long-term future. You're building a port for growth in traffic from now until 2050. The world is an uncertain place and it's hard to know how much traffic is going to grow. The CIB can help share in that risk. We can provide financing that says they will pay us back as the traffic ramps up or as the demand grows.
That's the kind of financing that a typical bank, which isn't a Crown like us with a long-term view, couldn't take. That idea of affordability, managing the costs and risk sharing are the lessons we've learned. We look at every investment through those lenses. How can our money help manage costs and manage risk of the project?
Those are two, at least, that I'll share with you.