Federal infrastructure investment under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program and its successor programs is generating a significant wave of polyurea demand in municipalities across the country, according to CPCA member surveys and procurement data compiled by the association’s Market Intelligence Committee. Contracts for water and wastewater rehabilitation, stormwater infrastructure, and bridge deck protection are flowing at a rate unseen in at least a decade.
Water and Wastewater: The Biggest Driver
Water and wastewater infrastructure rehabilitation represents the largest single driver of this demand. Aging concrete in water treatment plants, storage reservoirs, and transmission infrastructure built in the 1960s through 1980s is reaching end-of-service-life simultaneously across dozens of Canadian cities. Municipal engineers who previously specified cementitious liners for concrete rehabilitation are increasingly turning to polyurea-based solutions after reviewing comparative performance data.
The shift is supported by research. Recent studies confirming that polyurea extends infrastructure service life by 40+ years are landing on municipal engineers’ desks at exactly the moment they’re making specification decisions on multi-decade infrastructure investments. The lifecycle cost analysis increasingly favors the higher upfront investment in polyurea over the lower initial cost of alternatives that require re-application every 10–15 years.
Concrete rehabilitation with polyurea is now a mainstream specification in several provincial procurement frameworks, a transition that would have seemed premature just five years ago.
Stormwater Infrastructure: Emerging Application
Stormwater management infrastructure — culverts, retention ponds, bioswales, and drainage channels — represents a rapidly growing application segment. Climate change is placing unprecedented flow demands on stormwater systems designed for historical precipitation patterns, and the polyurea response to Canada’s flood control infrastructure challenges is increasingly being recognized at the municipal planning level.
Infrastructure engineers dealing with growing pressure from climate events are specifying polyurea for culvert lining, channel sealing, and retention pond liner applications where previously they would have relied on concrete reconstruction.
CPCA Member Companies Well-Positioned
The market timing is favorable for established CPCA member applicators. The certification and experience requirements for municipal work create a meaningful barrier to entry, and many municipalities are now requiring applicators to hold CPCA certification or equivalent as a bid prerequisite.
“We’re seeing ITB (invitation to bid) documents from Ontario municipalities that specifically reference CPCA certification as a required qualification,” noted one Ontario member who asked to remain anonymous for competitive reasons. “That’s a major shift from even three years ago when polyurea was often spec’d but the applicator qualifications weren’t scrutinized.”
For contractors looking to position for this work, our guide on bidding polyurea projects covers the documentation and qualification standards that are increasingly becoming table stakes in municipal procurement.
Regional Breakdown
CPCA’s regional chapter chairs report strong activity across all provinces, with particularly notable activity in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta. The Ontario market reflects major water infrastructure rehabilitation programs in the Greater Toronto Area and multiple mid-size cities. Quebec’s activity is driven by a provincial infrastructure program and the expansion of polyurea into the French-language market supported by the CPCA-CEGEP training partnership.
Western Canada activity is centered on oil and gas secondary containment rehabilitation, municipal water infrastructure, and agricultural storage — a market being developed by innovative members like those profiled in our member spotlight on Prairie Shield Coatings.
Market Outlook
The CPCA’s market intelligence committee projects that federal infrastructure investment will continue to support above-trend polyurea demand through at least 2028, with water and wastewater rehabilitation remaining the dominant driver. This aligns with broader projections in our Canadian Polyurea Market Outlook for 2025–2030.
Members interested in positioning their companies for this market growth are encouraged to attend the upcoming chapter meetings and the national technical forum. Dates are posted to the Events & Meetings Calendar.
As a municipal engineer who has specified both traditional and polyurea solutions on water infrastructure projects, I can confirm this article accurately describes what we’re seeing in procurement. The lifecycle cost conversation is changing fast — we ran a 30-year NPV analysis on our last reservoir rehabilitation and polyurea came out ahead by a substantial margin once you factor in reduced maintenance and re-application cycles.
We’ve been specifying polyurea on municipal water infrastructure in BC for three years and can confirm the procurement landscape has shifted dramatically. Two years ago I had to educate every client about what polyurea was. Now I’m getting RFPs that specifically request CPCA-certified applicators by name. The industry education efforts are clearly working.