One of the main reasons I decided to run as Member of Parliament in 2015 was because I was seeing firsthand how the City of Winnipeg and municipalities across Canada needed strong partners at the provincial and federal levels to help with aging infrastructure. From pools, community centres and libraries to roads and pathways, infrastructure is at the heart of our communities.

Last month, our government proposed a one-time investment of $2.2 billion that would help address infrastructure priorities in municipalities and Indigenous communities across Canada. The funds would flow through the federal Gas Tax Fund.

This would double the federal government’s regular funding for municipalities in 2020-21 and it would provide much needed funding for communities across Manitoba to help reduce the risk of infrastructure projects being delayed or cancelled. This means that Manitoba municipalities would receive an additional $72.5 million in funding, for a total of $145 million in 2020-2021. For the City of Winnipeg, the doubled allocation represents over $88 million in federal funding to help their infrastructure needs.

Municipalities can use the funds immediately for priority projects, bank them for later use, pool the dollars with other communities for shared infrastructure projects, or use them to finance major infrastructure expenditures. The funding could be used in a number of different project categories, including transit, active transportation, sport infrastructure, water and wastewater, and roads. 

For example, renovations at Bonivital Pool were funded in part by this annual funding stream, as well as major street work across Saint Boniface – Saint Vital. This additional funding would further help the City of Winnipeg address its aging infrastructure needs and keep our communities healthy and active.