Canada is in the early stages of one of its largest infrastructure investment cycles in decades. The federal government has committed approximately $115 billion over five years for water, transit, health, and innovation projects, while the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates total federal infrastructure spending will reach $159 billion between 2025-26 and 2029-30. The newly created Major Projects Office is already fast-tracking nation-building projects, with nearly $120 billion brought under review in its first three months.
For investors, these multi-year spending waves do not show up all at once — they flow through backlog, then revenue, then margins over years. The best TSX stocks to own in this environment are the ones already positioned with growing order books, improving execution, and balance sheets flexible enough to keep bidding on the next wave of contracts.
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ARE
Aecon (TSX:ARE) looks like a direct line into Canadian infrastructure as it builds the hard stuff that gets funded first, like transit, utilities, nuclear refurbishment, and industrial projects. Over the last year, the headline has been backlog strength, including a record backlog of about $10.8 billion as of the end of Q3 2025. It also added a notable Ontario transit win, with its share of the Yonge North Subway Extension advance tunnel contract added to backlog in that quarter.
In Q3 2025, revenue rose 20% year over year to $1.53 billion, and profit attributable to shareholders came in at $40 million, or $0.60 per diluted share. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was $92.7 million, but it fell from the prior year because legacy fixed-price projects created negative gross profit in the quarter. Right now, the TSX stock trades at a whopping 270 times earnings, with a 2% yield. If execution tightens and the legacy drag fades, the upside comes from margin normalization on a very large backlog, but the risk stays clear: one messy project can still eat an entire quarter.
Aecon is a high-risk, high-torque play on Canada’s infrastructure wave — a $10.8 billion backlog fed by exactly the transit and utility projects the federal budget is funding, but with a 270x trailing P/E that only makes sense if margin normalization actually arrives as legacy fixed-price contracts roll off.
STN
Stantec (TSX:STN) is the “brains” side of infrastructure. It designs and engineers the projects that governments and private clients keep funding even in slower economies, including water systems, transportation, healthcare facilities, energy transition work, and mission-critical buildings. Over the last year, it kept doing what strong consulting firms do best: grow steadily, protect margins, and build backlog. Its backlog reached $8.6 billion at year-end 2025, up 9.5%, which suggests demand stayed firm across its priority markets.
Its 2025 results looked like a clean, confidence-building set of numbers. Net revenue rose to $6.5 billion, up 10.7%, adjusted EBITDA reached about $1.1 billion, and the adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 17.6%. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $4.20 and adjusted EPS hit $5.30, up 19.9% year over year, which is the kind of growth investors reward in a choppy world. It now trades at about 30 times earnings, with just a 0.75% yield. Meanwhile, the future upside hinges on continued backlog conversion and margin discipline.
Stantec’s backlog is fed by exactly the kind of water, transit, and healthcare projects that the federal budget prioritizes. At 30x earnings you pay for that quality, but I think the multi-year visibility from Canada’s infrastructure commitment justifies the premium.
BDT
Bird Construction (TSX:BDT) gives you the boots-on-the-ground angle. In Q3 2025, it reported combined backlog and pending backlog above $10 billion, with backlog itself topping $5 billion for the first time. It also highlighted how strategic acquisitions, including Fraser River Pile & Dredge, can expand its self-perform capabilities, which can matter for winning complex infrastructure jobs and protecting margins.
Furthermore, Bird delivered revenue of $951.4 million, up 5.8% year over year, with adjusted EPS of $0.64 and adjusted EBITDA of $66.9 million, or a 7.0% margin. Net income was $31.7 million, or $0.57 per share, and it pointed to strong liquidity to support working capital and future bids. On valuation, it trades at 18.7 times earnings with a 2.6% yield, so you get some income while you wait for backlog to convert. The key risk is execution timing and customer credit, as one delayed program can distort near-term results even if the long-term demand stays strong.
Bird Construction is the value play of the three investments here at 18.7 times earnings. The government’s Buy Canadian Policy is funnelling federal procurement toward domestic contractors just like Bird. And the 2.6% yield gives you something while the backlog converts.
Bottom line
With $115 billion committed over five years and a Major Projects Office fast-tracking national-scale work, Canada’s infrastructure spending wave is already moving through order books. Aecon, Stantec, and Bird cover the full infrastructure chain from design to delivery: Stantec is the quality compounder with expanding margins, Bird is the value play with a record backlog and Buy Canadian tailwind, and Aecon is the highest-torque bet on margin recovery from a very large contract book.
Together, they give you three ways to invest in Canada’s multi-year infrastructure buildout.
