Whereas the federal governments Build Canada Grant Funding Program generally shares the costs of all approved infrastructure projects equally between the Province and local jurisdictions on a one-third cost share; And whereas for nationally and provincially significant projects, where projects provide a greater national and provincial benefit, and where communities are disproportionately and directly impacted by such projects, the burden of one-third of the cost is inequitable and too high for the local jurisdiction: Therefore be it resolved that the federal government provide funding for major infrastructure projects at a minimum of 50 of the project cost; And be it further resolved that the provincial government provide funding for major infrastructure projects at a minimum of 40 of the project cost.
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure With federal-provincial programs, such as the New Building Canada Fund, cost sharing parameters are established by the federal government. During previous federal cost share programs, federal cost sharing criteria was generally split three equal ways between the province, federal and local governments. As the Resolutions Committee points out, the new Federal Infrastructure Phase 1 programs provide for 50 federal cost sharing, with the other 50 being shared between the province and local government. Under the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund, the province retained their 33 share resulting in the local community share falling to 17. This significant reduction in local contribution requirements allows the local communities the opportunity to accelerate the implementation of additional infrastructure projects that would not have been possible before. With respect to the Building Canada Plan, approximately 1.090 billion was allocated to BC under the 10 billion Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component of the New Building Canada Fund. As per the program criteria established by the federal government, 109 million 10 is dedicated to local government infrastructure under the Small Communities Fund, with matching provincial funds, for communities with a population less than 100,000 and 981 million 90 is available for National and Regional Projects NRP. NRP is intended to support projects of national and regional significance under targeted eligible categories and BCs focus is on investments, which could include local government initiatives that facilitate job creation and economic growth. It should be noted that provincial projects, such as the Evergreen Line and highway improvement projects, provide significant benefits to local government with many projects not requiring any local community funding contributions. As part of the Building Canada Plan, the Province also signed a renewed Gas Tax Agreement in May 2014, which will see 2.7 billion flow to local governments over the next 10 years. That is almost 3 times greater than the entire New Building Canada Fund allocation to BC and is entirely dedicated to local community infrastructure. Under this agreement there is no requirement for matching funding, for either the direct allocation Community Works Fund or the pooled Strategic Priorities Fund.