Municipal leaders focus on strengthening Canada’s economic resilience, FCM says

Municipal leaders across Canada are focusing on strengthening the country’s economic resilience as global pressures reshape trade, security and economic stability.

The board of directors of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) met during the week of March 3 to examine local solutions to geopolitical forces affecting supply chains, infrastructure and economic activity, while advancing actions to reinforce services and infrastructure that support Canada’s competitiveness.

The board emphasized the role local governments play in maintaining systems that move goods and sustain daily life. Local and regional governments own more than 75 per cent of the roads that support Canada’s supply chains and more than 60 per cent of the public infrastructure that enables housing and trade.

“Canadians are feeling the global uncertainty locally through delays in supply chains, energy prices soaring and the rising costs for essential goods,” said FCM president Rebecca Bligh.

“Our board focused on practical steps municipalities can act on now: keeping goods moving, reinforcing critical local infrastructure and supporting national readiness. Local governments bring a measure of certainty when the world does not, and we will keep putting forward solutions that deliver for Canadians.”

The organization said municipal leaders are ready to support Canada’s economic and security goals and that the work will help guide federal–municipal collaboration on infrastructure, trade readiness and community well-being.

FCM said it will also continue working with U.S. municipal associations and international partners to strengthen collaboration in responding to economic and security pressures.

The organization plans to continue bringing forward recommendations from communities ahead of the federal government’s spring economic update and at its annual conference and trade show in Edmonton in June.