The nation-building initiative of retrofitting Canada’s buildings

Simply speeding up approvals for a few infrastructure projects does not build us a new Canada. Going bigger and broader—focusing on infrastructure that could directly improve the lives of literally every Canadian and aiming to help solve numerous crises at once—now that’s smart, strategic and forward-thinking nation-building.

As Canada moves to launch major nation-building projects, we should prioritize retrofitting the buildings Canadians already use — the majority of which will still stand in 2050, writes Chris Severson-Baker and Monica Curtis.Photo courtesy of SevenStorm JUHASZIMRUS, Pexels.com

Opinion

BY CHRIS SEVERSON-BAKER, MONICA CURTIS

July 20, 2025

The 2020s have been tumultuous. Kicked-off by a global pandemic, the last few years are described as an era of “polycrisis”—with people facing numerous, often interconnected global crises. Geopolitical conflict, increasing social inequality, the ever-worsening impacts ...

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