In September 2022, the Government of Ontario re-tabled its budget and subsequently passed Bill 2, Plan to Build Act (Budget Measures), in which they committed to spending $158.8 billion over the next ten years on infrastructure projects.

In response to this bill, Brady Holek (Windsor Essex Community Benefits Coalition), Candice Zhang (Ontario Nonprofit Network), Elizabeth Chick-Blount (Buy Social Canada), Kirstin Webb (Niagara Community Benefits Network), and Kumsa Baker (Toronto Community Benefits Network) have released a new blog post exploring how community benefit agreements can be used to maximize our public spending and achieve positive social and economic outcomes.

By leveraging the money that will be spent under the Plan to Build Act, we can ensure that local residents have a say in the development of their communities and that the projects being developed add social value to the area.

Investing in infrastructure is key to solving the issues affecting the province today: high cost of living, labour shortages, economic uncertainties and the climate change crisis. However, we must ensure that our investments to develop infrastructure are also investments to develop our communities.

Learn more about the Plan to Build Act and community benefits agreements here.