Recently the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis (CANCEA) published the results of a study that looked at the economic impact of surety bond requirements on public construction projects in Canada. The Surety Association of Canada shared a press release that summarizes the results.

The CANCEA study found that a non-bonded contractor is 10 times more likely to default than a bonded contractor and that the contractor prequalification done by the bond producer and surety underwriter is vital to ensuring a construction contractor can complete a project.

The study also found that:

• Surety bonds protect $27.24M of Canadian GDP for every $1M in premiums paid on public infrastructure projects.
• Surety bonds offer job protection, with the amount of full-time jobs protected increasing significantly in a more volatile economic climate.
• Tax revenue generated by successfully on-time, completed public works projects can offset surety premiums paid by the government.

Steve Ness, President of the Surety Association of Canada (SAC) said in the release, “The CANCEA Report provides empirical evidence that confirms the value of surety bond protection to governments and other key industry stakeholders. It clearly demonstrates that all public work should be protected by performance and payment bonds.” Ness, right, is pictured with NASBP CEO Mark McCallum at the 2025 NASBP Annual Meeting & Expo in Nashville, TN.

This CANCEA study affirms the message that the NASBP membership shares every day with their clients—surety bond requirements protect taxpayer dollars and ensure public construction project are successfully completed.

Read the full press release

See these other resources for explaining the value of surety bonding:

• NASBP Surety Bond Quarterly Spring 2023 article, “Explaining the Value of Surety Bonding“
• NASBP Be Guaranteed To Succeed Producer Communications Toolkit 2.0
• EY Study conducted for SFAA, The Economic Value of Surety Bonds