WHEREAS the Government of Canada has introduced the New Building Canada Fund, a nation-wide partnered infrastructure funding program for municipalities to address Canadas alarming infrastructure deficit, including 1 billion for communities under 100,000 in population as the Small Communities Fund; AND WHEREAS because the majority of critical infrastructure renewal needs require projects addressing all three of water, wastewater, and road components together, the New Building Canada Funds elimination of local road applicability will jeopardize the financial ability for most small communities to undertake such infrastructure renewal projects: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of British Columbia Municipalities petition the Province to negotiate the inclusion of local road applicability for infrastructure projects submitted by municipalities under the New Building Canada Funds Small Communities Fund component.
Ministry of Community, Sport Cultural Development Negotiations with the federal government regarding the New Building Canada Fund NBCF began in the fall of 2014. The exclusion of local roads as an eligible category under the NBCF is a concern heard across the country; and this has been raised to the Government of Canada by multiple provinces. Although local roads are not an eligible category under the NBCF, it is now an eligible category under the application-based pooled funding program of the Gas Tax Strategic Priorities Fund. Along with local project priorities, consideration of a communitys Asset Management Strategies will be an important component for both the renewed Gas Tax Fund and the NBCF. The Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development is currently in discussions with UBCM about the on-going structure and delivery options of the permanent Gas Tax Fund and any new program decisions will be clearly communicated to all local governments.
Minister of Infrastructure, Communities Intergovernmental Affairs I am very proud that our Government has delivered a New Building Canada Plan NBCP to help finance the construction, rehabilitation and enhancement of infrastructure across Canada. The Plan includes over 53 billion for provincial, territorial and municipal infrastructure over 10 years of which 33.2 billion will be exclusively allocated towards municipal infrastructure, an amount corresponding to close to 70 percent of the total funding available. This includes 1 billion in funding for municipalities under 100,000 residents through the Small Communities Fund, almost 22 billion that all municipalities will receive through the indexed federal Gas Tax Fund GTF over the next decade and 10.4 billion available to municipalities under the Goods and Services Tax Rebate. Under the new GTF, the number of project categories has been expanded from 7 to 18. The new categories allow municipalities to use the renewed GTF towards a wider range of projects, which means they will have even more flexibility in the types of projects they fund. Our Government recognizes that municipalities are best placed to determine their own local infrastructure needs. Given there are three levels of government and the private sector who can contribute to infrastructure projects, our Government will continue to do its part by providing up to one-third of the funding for most projects.