Canada’s governments are preparing to spend historic amounts on infrastructure. This paper argues that, to avoid creating ‘white elephants’, they should follow six key principles that will help the projects improve the country’s productivity, competitiveness and social equity.

The 12 papers in the 'Canada Next' series have been written to inform policy makers about how best to respond to the intense challenges of the era, including geopolitical transformation, the sweeping innovations of the digital age, the impacts on work sparked by artificial intelligence and the catastrophic effects of climate change.