VICTORIA – The governments of Canada and British Columbia have announced a $243-million partnership to improve environmental infrastructure around the province.
On May 31, the B.C. government opened the application process for local governments and First Nations for the new Environmental Quality program, which will fund projects such as drinking water improvements, wastewater and storm infrastructure, solid waste diversion, brownfield remediation and resource recovery.
“The Environmental Quality program is an extremely important component of our historic infrastructure agreement with the federal government. By making smart investments in core services like local drinking water and waste water systems, we’re helping build public infrastructure for the next generation,” said B.C. Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Claire Trevena in a statement.
The Environmental Quality program is the first announced under an integrated bilateral agreement between B.C. and the Canadian government under the Investing In Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP).
The agreement commits $3.9 billion in infrastructure funding throughout the province in four streams: public transportation, green infrastructure, community, culture and recreation infrastructure, and rural and northern communities infrastructure. The Environmental Quality program is funded under the green infrastructure stream.
B.C. will contribute $110.5 million to the program and the federal government will contribute $132.6 million.
Local governments and First Nations can apply through the ICIP-BC program website. B.C. is administering the program, and funding applications will be accepted until Aug. 29. Approvals will be made public in spring 2019.
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