This episode was recorded live at the recent Transforming Infrastructure Performance summit held in Toronto, Canada in October and hosted by Bentley Systems. 

I’m joined by Divya Shah, Managing Director of the Trade & Transportation sector at the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB), an organisation at the forefront of this mission to deliver the infrastructure Canada needs to stay competitive and resilient.

Infrastructure has always been central to Canada’s story — a vast country knitted together by railways, ports, roads, and power grids that enabled economic growth and connected communities. Today, the stakes are even higher. As Canada accelerates its transition to a low-carbon, resilient, and inclusive economy, infrastructure has never been more critical — or more political.

The Canada Infrastructure Bank was created to act as a catalyst: unlocking private capital, supporting transformative projects, and enabling the kind of nation-building investment needed to meet 21st-century challenges. With more than $16.8 billion invested in 102 projects across the country, from clean power and green infrastructure to transit, broadband, and trade corridors, the CIB is reshaping the way Canada builds.

But challenges remain. Canada faces shifting geopolitics, urgent climate targets, rising costs, and the need for stronger coordination between federal, provincial, and Indigenous partners. The question is not just how we build, but how we build faster, smarter, and more inclusively.

Resources

• Canada Infrastructure Bank
• Divya Shah
• Transforming Infrastructure Performance 
• TIPLive Toronto
• Bentley Systems website
• For the video version of this podcast visit the Infrastructure Podcast YouTube