Ms. Lantsman, thank you for the question.
Obviously, over the last two years, a number of federal and provincial infrastructure investments have been affected by COVID—the planning, some of the work and some of the costs have gone up. I've had these conversations with provincial ministers, premiers and mayors across the country. I acknowledge that some of the investments in infrastructure projects across the country have been made more complicated. The good news is that we continue to approve thousands of projects and proceed in collaboration with municipalities and provinces in a way that we think is important.
With respect to the administrative costs of the department, the infrastructure department is a relatively new department. In my briefings with officials last fall, when I assumed the portfolio, I was surprised by the extent of the policy capacity in the department, such as the things that Environment and Climate Change Canada was expecting us to act on as part of a tackling climate change plan. Some of the internal capacities had to be built into the department. That may explain some of these administrative costs.
If you'd like, Ms. Lantsman, the Deputy Minister could perhaps give you a very clear answer on that right away.