Chief Minister Andrew Barr said he would write to Prime Minister Scott Morrison to begin talks on the deal, but did not expect an agreement to be reached before 2022.

Mr Morrison indicated in Friday's national cabinet meeting his preference for city-by-city arrangements to boost city economies as the coronavirus pandemic eased.

Mr Barr said the future of federally owned sports infrastructure, including the AIS arena and Canberra Stadium, would form a small part of the discussions.

"We will draw upon our infrastructure plan in submitting city deal infrastructure proposals. City deals can, and should, extend beyond infrastructure though," Mr Barr said.

"Policy areas such as health, community services, housing, renewable energy, higher education, arts and creative industries, tourism, national security, defence, space, and vocational education and training would also be in the mix."

Mr Barr said the territory would also push for more Commonwealth employment in the Gungahlin town centre.

The push would follow a contentious Legislative Assembly motion, negotiated by Labor and the Greens to avoid a public split over land sales, that calls for a territory pitch for more federal employment in Canberra's north.

Mr Morrison said it was time for employees to get back to the office to help revitalise the nation's cities in a post-national cabinet press conference on Friday.

READ MORE:

"And here, in the ACT in particular, and for Commonwealth employees, we've been saying that for some time as other states have in other jurisdictions," Mr Morrison said.

Mr Barr told the ACT parliament on Wednesday the territory's $14 billion 10-year infrastructure plan would be reworked in response to the coronavirus pandemic, less than two years after it was released.

The Chief Minister also welcomed the federal government's increased investment in ACT infrastructure.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: