OTTAWA – The federal government is implementing Building Canada, a $33 billion infrastructure plan that will provide funding for provincial, territorial and municipal infrastructure from 2007 to 2014.
“Our next step is to move the plan details to provinces, territories and the municipal sector and enter into discussions so that we can implement the new infrastructure plan and invest where it’s most needed in the country,” Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities said in a statement.
The plan will grant base funding of $17 billion for municipalities, including the Gas Tax Fund which will be delivered at $2 billion a year from 2010 to 2014. Building Canada will also allow $8.8 billion in investments in the National Highway System, public transit, clean water and sewage treatment infrastructure and green energy.
Additional investments of $2.1 billion will help enhance infrastructure at key locations, such as major border crossings between Canada and the United States, and the Atlantic gateway. $400 million from this fund is dedicated to the construction of the access road between Highway 401 in southeast Ontario and the new Windsor-Detroit border crossing.
Base funding of $25 million a year per jurisdiction will be allocated to help provinces and territories address infrastructure priorities.