Governments introduce COVID-19 resilience infrastructure stream

TORONTO — Through a new COVID-19 resilience infrastructure stream, the governments of Canada and Ontario are providing up to $1.05 billion 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.

Eligible projects under the COVID-19 Resilience stream 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 child care 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).

The new 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 Sept. 30, 2021 and be completed by Dec. 31, 2021.

“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 Ontario Premier Doug Ford, in a statement. “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.”