Municipalities to Benefit from Ontario’s COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure Stream

LAURIE SCOTT MPP Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock

KAWARTHA LAKES: The Ontario government is providing up to $1.05 billion in combined federal-provincial funding through the new COVID-19 Resilience infrastructure stream to build or renovate health and safety related projects in long-term care, education and municipalities. The funding is part of the federal government’s Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program and reinforces the commitment of both the federal and provincial governments to protect the health and well-being of individuals and families during the pandemic.

“I am very excited to announce this local funding for key infrastructure projects in HKLB,” said Laurie Scott, MPP for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock. This funding gives our municipalities the ability to continue to adapt to new challenges brought on by COVID-19 while stimulating their local economies with a variety of eligible community projects.”

Municipalities in HKLB are eligible for the following amounts under the COVID-19 Resilience infrastructure stream: Kawartha Lakes $391,279 while Brock, Algonquin Highlands, Cavan-Monaghan, Dysart et al, Haliburton County, Highlands East and Minden Hills are eligible for $100,000.

Eligible projects will fall under four main categories: community, recreation, health and education renovations (e.g. retrofits, repairs or upgrades to long-term care homes, publicly funded schools and co-located childcare centre facilities, recreation centres or shelters); COVID-19 response infrastructure (e.g. heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, new builds or renovations to enable physical distancing); Active transportation (e.g. parks, trails); and Disaster mitigation, adaptation, or remediation (e.g. flood mitigation).

“Getting shovels in the ground on new infrastructure projects across the province will be a critical component of our path to long-term economic recovery,” said Premier Ford.

“Not only will this investment help communities build the necessary infrastructure to keep Ontarians safe and healthy, but these projects will create hundreds of local construction jobs and support local businesses and suppliers. It’s a win-win for the home team.”

The COVID-19 Resilience stream will deliver: Up to $700 million for education-related projects to be nominated and administered by the Ministry of Education; An allocation-based program that will deliver $250 million to municipalities to address critical local infrastructure needs, including $6.5 million that will be directed toward Indigenous and on-reserve education, through the Ministry of Infrastructure in collaboration with the Ministries of Education and Indigenous Affairs; and Up to $100 million for long-term care projects to be identified and administered by the Ministry of Long-Term Care.

Eligible projects must begin by September 30th, 2021 and be completed by December 31st, 2021. Additional details about the COVID-19 Resilience stream and intake opening dates will be available for municipalities to submit projects in the days and weeks ahead.