After 18 months, Canterbury's regional deal has no projects, no budget, and no finish line

Wednesday, 17 June 2026

Canterbury is still working on its regional deal pitch as it argues the region receives too small a share of national transport funding.

After 18 months, Canterbury mayors still cannot tell voters which projects they want the Government to fund, what they would cost, or who would pay – and may not be able to until late 2027.

Papers from the Canterbury Mayoral Forum’s May 29 meeting show the regional deal bid is still at an early scoping stage and is “not expected to deliver an investment-ready proposal within the term of the current Government”.

It said it could be as much as another 18 months before Canterbury identifies the “cornerstone projects” it wants at the centre of a regional deal.

A regional deal is meant to give a region a clearer agreement with the Government on major infrastructure, housing and economic priorities, and how they might be funded or delivered.

Canterbury and Wellington are the only major regions not to have submitted “light touch” proposals since the plan for regional deals was announced in mid-2024.

Of the 18 councils and regions that have, only Auckland and Western Bay of Plenty have signed deals with the Government.

The Canterbury forum first lodged an expression of interest – the step before a light touch proposal – with the Government in December 2024, but by last month’s meeting mayors were still agreeing only to begin the first part of the scoping work.

That first phase is expected to take six months and will not produce a final proposal. It will pull together existing council and business strategies, shape an initial investment story for Canterbury, test the evidence behind it, and identify gaps for further work.

Canterbury Mayoral Forum chair Nigel Bowen said the region had chosen to work within existing resources and would not submit a regional deal proposal before the election.

The next phase, under which more concrete decisions will begin, is expected to take another nine to 12 months. That is when the region will identify and prioritise the “cornerstone projects” for a core proposal.

Forum chair mayor Nigel Bowen confirmed Canterbury would not be submitting a proposal to the Government before the election in November.

Bowen cited workload as a constraint, saying the forum was managing its regional deal work alongside business as usual, local government reform and resource management changes – across 11 councils – within existing budgets.

He rejected the suggestion Canterbury was falling behind.

“Our analysis of the Auckland and Western Bay of Plenty deals do not lead us to the view that there is a risk to Canterbury for not having a signed deal at this time,” he said.

He did not explain how Canterbury’s position might change if a new government with different priorities takes office after November.

The process is being complicated by the Government’s Head Start council amalgamation programme, which could reshape Canterbury’s councils and change who is responsible for the planning, infrastructure and investment decisions that would sit behind any regional deal.

The slow timetable comes as Canterbury argues it is already receiving less than its share of national infrastructure investment.

The forum’s papers say Canterbury receives 5% of National Land Transport Programme funding, despite having 13% of New Zealand’s population, 13% of GDP and 14% of vehicle kilometres travelled.

They estimate about $11 billion is needed over 10 years to materially address the region’s transport problems.

But Budget 2026 did not name a major Canterbury-specific project in the Government’s wider $7b infrastructure package.

After the Budget, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said she had not received a request for a “major headline project in Canterbury”.

The papers show several reasons the regional deal has not come together more quickly.

The work has no dedicated budget and depends on staff from councils and partner organisations being available. Mayors agreed to progress only the first five steps of phase one using existing resources, with no future funding identified.

Phase one of the regional deal work will review two existing documents. The forum’s World-stage Ready strategy identifies transport, housing, energy, infrastructure and innovation as priorities, while Canterbury’s separate Canterbury Ambition sets out the private sector’s broader vision for regional growth.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis said she had not received a request for a “major headline project in Canterbury” after the Budget.

Neither document provides an agreed, prioritised and costed list of investments.

But the May papers show Canterbury is still some distance from naming a bankable set of projects.

The forum’s papers also suggest Canterbury has lowered expectations about what a regional deal might bring.

Staff reviewed deals signed with Auckland and Western Bay of Plenty and found they did not amount to simple promises of significant new Government funding.

The Auckland deal was assessed as having “few new financial commitments” from central government, totalling less than $11 million. Greater value came in the form of access, including a formal 10-year relationship with ministers, officials and the prime minister.

The forum papers warned there was no legal obligation to keep pursuing a deal. But they said stopping or shrinking the work could create reputational risk because the forum had already told the Government it wanted to progress a future deal and work with the private sector.

They warned that delaying or reducing the work could damage Canterbury’s credibility and leave it poorly placed when future investment opportunities emerge. The next update is due in August.