Backgrounder: Canada and British Columbia to make significant investments that will improve the lives of Canadians

From: Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada

Backgrounder

Supporting new projects that build prosperous communities and transition to a clean growth economy

Under the $180-billion Investing in Canada infrastructure plan, the Government of Canada is signing new ten-year bilateral agreements with all provinces and territories that will see more than $33 billion in federal funding invested in infrastructure projects across the country. The objective of these investments is to transform the way Canadians live, move and work across four priority areas:

  • Public transit;
  • Green infrastructure;
  • Community, culture, and recreation infrastructure; and
  • Rural and northern communities.

British Columbia will receive a total of $4,129,680,161 from 2018 to 2028 through this agreement.

Allocations by funding stream:

Funding Stream

Allocation

Expected Outcomes at Project Completion*

Public Transit

$2,691,101,894 to build new urban transit networks and service extensions that will transform the way Canadians live, move and work.

  • Improved capacity of public transit infrastructure
  • Improved quality and safety of existing and future transit systems
  • Improved access to public transit systems

Green Infrastructure

$1,115,494,721 to support greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reductions; enable greater adaptation and resilience to the impacts of climate change and climate-related disaster mitigation, and ensure that more communities can provide clean air and safe drinking water for their citizens.

 

** This amount includes a $212 million allocation for the Lion’s Gate project, which is currently being implemented under PTIC-NRP.

  • Increased capacity to manage more renewable energy
  • Increased access to clean energy transportation
  • Increased energy efficiency of buildings
  • Increased generation of clean energy
  • Increased structural capacity and increased natural capacity to adapt to climate change impacts, natural disasters and extreme weather events
  • Increased capacity to treat and manage wastewater and storm water
  • Increased access to potable water
  • Increased capacity to reduce or remediate soil and air pollutants

Community, Culture and Recreation Infrastructure

$157,081,719 towards community, culture and recreation infrastructure to build stronger communities and improve social inclusion.

  • Improved access to and increased quality of community, cultural and recreational infrastructure for Canadians, including  Indigenous Peoples and vulnerable populations

Rural and Northern Communities Infrastructure

$166,001,827 to support projects that improve the quality of life in rural and northern communities by responding to rural and northern specific needs.

 

The stream also includes the $400 million Arctic Energy Fund that will address energy security in the territories.

  • Improved food security
  • Improved and more reliable road, air and marine infrastructure
  • Improved broadband connectivity
  • More efficient and reliable energy (The Arctic Energy Fund can only be applied to this outcome.)
  • Improved education and health facilities that benefit Indigenous peoples (specific to Truth and Reconciliation Commission)

* Outcomes will be obtained through projects which will be communicated in more details as they are announced.

The bilateral agreements will allow the Government of Canada and the provinces and territories to agree on shared results as well as a method of regularly reporting on results. The bilateral agreements support the following long-term goals:

  • Increase the rate of economic growth in an inclusive and sustainable way;
  • Improve environmental quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase resiliency of communities;
  • Improve mobility in Canadian communities;
  • Make Canadian communities more inclusive and accessible; and
  • Manage infrastructure in a more sustainable way.

Under these new bilateral agreements, the Government of Canada will not only make significant investments in Canadian communities, but open the door to unique innovative project ideas that meet the agreed-upon outcomes. These new ideas will contribute to the long-term sustainability of our infrastructure.

 

To ensure our partners consider opportunities to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions or better adapt to climate change during the project development stage, a new climate lens will be applied to certain projects. Partners will also report on how larger projects are creating job opportunities for a broader array of Canadians in the construction industry and related sectors through a new Community Employment Benefits framework.

For information on cost-sharing, please see Infrastructure Canada’s website.

British Columbia’s Transit Allocation

The Public Transit stream will provide provinces, territories and municipalities with funding to address the new construction, expansion, improvement and rehabilitation of public transit infrastructure.

The table below provides an overview of the maximum transit allocations for the following recipients in British Columbia:

Recipient

Maximum Transit Allocation

Translink

$2,222,366,485

BC Transit

$468,735,408

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