CCA Weekly

In Budget 2007, the federal government announced the $33 billion Building Canada Plan, which consists of several components designed to help provinces and municipalities meet their growing infrastructure replacement and expansion needs. As a condition of funding, projects funded by the federal BUILDING CANADA PLAN must support the following national objectives:

TABLE 1

BUILDING CANADA PRIORITIES

$33 billion (2007 to 2014)

Economic Development

Environmental Development

Community Development

· Core national highways

· Short-sea shipping

· Shortline railways

· Local and regional airports

· Connectivity and broadband

· Tourism

· Wastewater infrastructure

· Public transit

· Green energy

· Solid waste management

· Drinking water

· Disaster mitigation

· Brownfield redevelopment

· Roads and bridges

· Sports and culture

· Recreation

Under the BUILDING CANADA PLAN, there are several funds to help achieve these objectives. However, before these funds could begin flowing, the federal and provincial governments were required to negotiate and sign formal framework agreements. The last of these framework agreements were concluded in the fall of 2008.

TABLE 2

BUILDING CANADA PRIORITIES

Fund

Total

Criteria

Building Canada Fund

Available for economic, environmental and community development

Major Infrastructure Component (MIC)

$ 8.8 billion over 7 years (2007 to 2014)

·          Designed for larger, strategic projects of national and regional significance.

Communities Component (CC)

·          Designed for projects in communities with populations of less than 100,000.

Public Private Partnerships Fund

$1.25 billion over 7 years (2007 to 2014)

·          Designed to support alternative government infrastructure development.

Gateways and Border Crossing Fund

Gateways and Border Crossing Fund

$2.1 billion over 7 years (2007 to 2014)

·          Designed to support the National Policy Framework for Strategic Gateways and Trade Corridors.

Asia-Pacific Gateway Fund

$1 billion over 7 years (2007 to 2014)

·          Designed to advance infrastructure improvements in support of Asia-Pacific trade.

Base Funding Programs

Gas Tax Fund

$2 billion annually

·          Direct transfer to provinces for municipal governments

GST Rebate

$5.8 billion in annual savings for municipal governments.

·          Designed to support municipal infrastructure development.

Base Provincial – Territorial Funding

$2.275 billion over 7 years (2007 to 2014)

·          $25 million to each province and territory each year for the next 7 years to support provincial infrastructure development.

2. Budget 2009

As part of the most recent budget, the federal government introduced a number of further time-limited infrastructure funds to support the economy during the current recession brought on by global financial challenges. In total, the federal government announced more than $12 billion in federal stimulus over the next two years (2010-2011).

The federal stimulus programs consist of several funds. For more information, please see Table 3.

TABLE 3

BUDGET 2009 STIMULUS FUNDS

Fund		Total	Criteria
Provincial – Territorial – Municipal Investments
	Infrastructure Stimulus Fund	$4 billion over 2 years (2009 to March 31, 2011)	· $2 billion per year to support investments in municipal Shovel-ready projects.
	Green Infrastructure Fund	$1 billion over 5 years (2009 to March 31, 2014)	· $200 million per year to support Green infrastructure investments such as water, waste and energy generation and transmission.
	Recreational Facilities Fund	$500 million over 2 years (2009 to March 31, 2011)	· $250 million per year to support the renovation of recreational facilities across Canada.
	Accelerated Provincial – Territorial Base Funding under the Building Canada Plan	$1 billion in payments over 2 years (2009 to March 31, 2011)	· Accelerate payments to provincial – territorial governments for investments in Shovel-Ready infrastructure over the next two years.
	Top-up to the Building Canada Fund`s Communities Component	$500 million over 2 years (2009 to March 31, 2011)	· Injection of an additional $500 million over the next 2 years for the Building Canada Fund’s Communities Component to support infrastructure development in small communities.
First Nations Infrastructure		$515 million over 2 years (2009 to March 31, 2011)	· Investment in Ready-to-Go First Nations projects in 3 priority areas: schools, water and critical community services.
Investments in Knowledge Infrastructure
	Knowledge Infrastructure Program	$ 2 billion over 2 years (2009 to March 31, 2011)	· $2 billion over 2 years to support investments in capital projects at universities and colleges across Canada (70% for universities and 30% for colleges)
	Research support	$887 million over 2 years (2009 to March 31, 2011)	· $750 million for the Canada Foundation for Innovation · $50 million for the Institute of Quantum Computing at Waterloo. · $87 million for Arctic research facilities
	Federal research facilities	$250 million over 2 years (2009 to March 31, 2011)	· $250 million to support deferred maintenance at federal research facilities
	Canada Health Infoway	$500 million over 2 years (2009 to March 31, 2011)	· $500 million to support digitising health records across Canada
	Broadband Development	$225 million over 2 years (2009 to March 31, 2012)	· $225 million to support the construction of broadband coverage to unserved communities.
Investments in Federal Infrastructure Projects
	Rail improvements	$486.9 million	· $407 million to support service and infrastructure improvements. · $7.9 million to support service and infrastructure improvements. · $72 million over 5 years to Improve rail safety across Canada
	Trans-Canada	$130 million	· Twin the Trans-Canada through Banff National Park
	Federal Bridge Improvements	$268.5 million	· $212 million to improve the Champlain Bridge in Montreal. · $14.5 million to improve the Blue Water Bridge and Peace Bridge. · $42 million to improve other federal bridges.
	Harbour Rehabilitation	$217 million	· For the accelerated construction of the Pangnirtung Harbour and rehabilitate other small craft harbours across Canada.
	Federal Building Restoration – Accelerated Infrastructure Program	$345 million over 2 years (2009 to March 31, 2011)	· $323 million to restore federal buildings across Canada. · $20 million to improve access for the disabled to federal buildings.
	Manège Militaire in Québec City	$2 million	· Develop a plan for the future of the site.
	Federal Contaminated Sites cleanup	$80 million over 2 years (2009 to March 31, 2011)	· Add a further $80 million to bring the budget for assessing federal contaminated sites to $165 million.