Since its inception in 2005, the Canada Community-Building Fund has delivered over $4.6 billion in federal funding for local infrastructure in British Columbia. With the current administrative agreement set to expire on March 31, UBCM, the Province and the Government of Canada are continuing discussions on the long-term renewal of this program.
UBCM prepared for these negotiations by surveying local governments in 2023. The results of that survey indicated broad support for the current CCBF funding model in BC, which features direct funding allocation to all local governments in the province; an application-based stream; and a pooled public transit fund for Metro Vancouver.
UBCM and the Province formalized a joint approach to renewal discussions that focused on the program providing long-term predictable funding; flexibility to address local needs; removal of the current stacking provision; and continued support for local government capacity to implement asset management. UBCM and the Province were also seeking a doubling of CCBF and a review of its indexing mechanism.
In the winter, the Government of Canada distributed a CCBF position paper identifying federal interest in the renewed agreement to include new reporting conditions for both signatories and recipients; new housing requirements for municipalities with populations over 30,000; and reporting on housing outputs on a project level.
UBCM and the province have identified concerns with these proposed reporting and housing conditions. These concerns have been communicated throughout the discussions with the Government of Canada and UBCM anticipates reaching effective and workable solutions.
UBCM has also provided direct correspondence to CAOs and CFOs on the current status of negotiations. As discussions continue, UBCM aims to be in a position to have a 10-year Agreement signed in advance of the program’s next allocated payment in July. Until a renewed Agreement is signed, the program will continue to operate under the terms and conditions of the existing CCBF Agreement.