Canada cannot solve its productivity and trade challenges without renewed federal investment in a National Highway Strategy, according to the Western Transportation Advisory Council (WESTAC).
The organization is calling on Ottawa to work with provinces to identify and fund nationally significant highway corridors, arguing that Canada’s aging highway network has become a weak link in efforts to diversify exports beyond the United States and improve supply chain resilience.
“We’re talking a lot about interprovincial trade and reducing regulatory barriers, and that’s important,” said Lindsay Kislock, president and CEO of WESTAC. “But if the infrastructure isn’t there to move goods efficiently, businesses still face higher costs and less reliable access to markets.”
Kislock’s comments come in an opinion piece released Tuesday that builds on recommendations made by Western premiers earlier this month. At their annual meeting, the premiers described highways as the “backbone” of Canada’s economic corridors and called for sustained federal investment in transportation infrastructure.
While governments have focused on removing regulatory barriers to interprovincial trade, Kislock said Canada has paid too little attention to the highways that connect manufacturers, resource producers, ports, airports, rail terminals and border crossings.
“A more productive economy requires a more connected one,” she said. “Trade agreements and regulatory reform can only go so far if freight is still moving through congested corridors, deteriorating highways and bottlenecks.”
Canada remains one of the few developed countries without a modern national highway policy or a dedicated long-term federal funding program for major highway corridors, WESTAC says. By contrast, countries including the United States, Germany and Australia treat national highways as strategic economic infrastructure.
The organization argues that renewed federal leadership does not require Ottawa to own or manage highways, but rather to partner with provinces to identify nationally significant trade corridors and help fund projects that improve freight mobility.
Among the priorities is completing the twinning of the Trans-Canada Highway between the Manitoba-Ontario border and the Pacific Coast, a project unanimously endorsed by Western premiers as essential to improving safety, reliability and Canada’s ability to expand exports beyond the U.S.
“The original Trans-Canada Highway was built through a federal-provincial partnership,” Kislock said. “That same model can work today. Ottawa doesn’t have to dictate every project, but it does need to provide leadership on infrastructure that’s critical to the national economy.”
WESTAC points to estimates from the Western Premiers’ report suggesting Western Canada’s transportation corridor system will require between $60 billion and $69 billion annually over the next 50 years simply to keep pace with projected population growth, economic activity and trade demand. That figure does not include the existing infrastructure deficit or additional capacity needed to support future supply chain expansion.
Kislock said a modern National Highway Strategy would reduce transportation costs, improve supply chain reliability, strengthen interprovincial trade and better connect Canadian producers to domestic and international markets.
“This isn’t just about transportation,” she said. “It’s about Canada’s economic competitiveness.”
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