Bonjour. Distinguished members of the committee and Madam Chair, thank you for inviting me here today.
My name is Wendy Reuter. I'm the Acting President and CEO of the Canadian Urban Transit Association, or CUTA. CUTA is the collective voice for urban mobility in Canada. Our members include both small and large transit systems, transit manufacturers, suppliers, operators, and other stakeholders related to the urban mobility industry. In total we have 500 members representing 98% of Canadian transit operations.
Over the last 12 years, CUTA has seen the federal role in transit investment mature greatly. The federal government first came to the table for transit investment through the establishment of a dedicated transit fund in 2005. The trend to invest federally continued through the new building Canada plan, and today we have the current government's comprehensive investing in Canada plan.
Consecutive governments have decided to invest in transit because, as the population has grown and urbanized, Canadians have urged their leaders to address congestion, in terms of both commute times and contribution to the broader community. These unprecedented investments in urban mobility are prudent as they spur environmental, economic, and public health benefits in Canadian communities. The current commitment to transit in the investing in Canada plan equals nearly $28 billion in long-term, dedicated funding from 2016 to 2028. CUTA and our member transit systems strongly support this program, and we firmly believe these historic investments should be conducted in a timely, responsible manner.
That's why I'm very pleased to be able to speak before you today to discuss some of the challenges and opportunities in the transit sector when it comes to deploying the government's infrastructure investments. According to Infrastructure Canada's website, there are already more than 1,100 transit projects funded through the public transit infrastructure fund. I don't have time to list them all, but I'll highlight a few projects that are typical of the program.
Federal investments have ranged from rehabilitating Montreal's iconic subway system, to upgrading the ferry service in Halifax, to helping develop a bus rapid transit system in Saskatoon. They've helped plan new rail projects in Ottawa, Calgary, Toronto, and Edmonton, just to name a few. The funding has also delivered significant benefit for transit in smaller communities. The fund invested in everything from bike racks in Airdrie, to new accessible buses in Whitehorse, to transit shelters in Trois-Rivières.
When it comes to the slower than expected federal spending of infrastructure funds, CUTA has identified three factors related to the public transit infrastructure fund that we believe contribute to the issue. The first contributing factor CUTA has identified involves an issue around perception, mainly a disconnect between what people in Ottawa believe is happening when they look at budget tables and what's actually happening on the ground. The announcement of dedicated, long-term funding in the 2016 federal budget was the impetus for thousands of new transit projects, but it takes time to properly plan, procure, construct, and operationalize these transit projects. This is the nature of our industry.
Environmental assessments, community consultations, urban planning, and other forms of due diligence are all vitally important to the success of transit investments, but it takes time to accomplish them. Though money is leaving federal coffers at a pace slower than expected, the work is still taking place on the ground.
The second factor has to do with how the federal government funds its transit projects. Project proponents receive federal funding only after the work has been completed. The federal government refunds invoices at the rate of the federal project cost-share, usually 40% to 50%. This slows federal funding considerably and stretches the commitment over a longer period of time.
The final factor that CUTA has identified has to do with timelines included in the public transit infrastructure fund. The program was created to span three years, and it funded nearly every transit system in the country. We heard from our members, though, that the need to complete projects before the program expired in 2019 did create a bottleneck in procuring goods for the transit industry. This included buses, transit shelters, and even services like transit planning. CUTA brought our concerns about this deadline to Infrastructure Canada and a one-year extension to the program was ultimately granted, which alleviated much of that pressure.
We appreciate the focus the government has placed on transit infrastructure and look forward to the results of this strategy.
Merci beaucoup. I look forward to answering your questions.