Question Period Note: RURAL AND NORTHERN COMMUNITIES

How are infrastructure investments helping rural and northern communities?

• Investing in rural and northern infrastructure supports local economies, creates job opportunities and enhances quality of life.
  • That is why the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program provides $2.4 billion of dedicated funding to rural and northern communities.
  • The Government also provides $2.3 billion each year in permanent, stable funding to all communities through the Canada Community-Building Fund.
  • The Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund is investing $3.4 billion in communities of all sizes to adapt to frequent and intensifying weather events.

The Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP)
* The Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (the Program) is the centrepiece of Infrastructure Canada’s (INFC) funding initiatives.
* Launched in 2017-18, the 10-year program has been designed to provide long-term, stable funding for public infrastructure initiatives across Canada.
* It is delivered through bilateral agreements with each province and territory, which can be found on the Infrastructure Canada website.
* The Program consists of five funding streams:
o The Public Transit stream provides funding for the construction, expansion, improvement and rehabilitation of public transit infrastructure, and supports active transportation that enhances mobility options and strengthens communities.
o The Green Infrastructure stream provides funding for climate change mitigation; adaptation, resilience, and disaster mitigation; and environmental quality.
o The Community, Culture and Recreation Infrastructure stream funds new, expanded or renewed community, cultural and recreational facilities.
o The Rural and Northern Communities Infrastructure stream provides funding to smaller communities to address rural and northern needs as outlined below.
 It also includes the $400 million Arctic Energy Fund to address energy security in the territories.
o The COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure stream provides funding for upgrades to municipal buildings, hospitals or schools, temporary COVID-19 testing and treatment facilities, active transportation pathways and ventilation improvements in public buildings.
* Provinces, territories, municipalities and Indigenous recipients submit infrastructure projects that meet their needs, while also contributing to federal objectives and expected outcomes.
* Under the Rural and Northern Communities Infrastructure stream, eligible projects are situated within, and for the direct benefit of rural and northern communities. Eligible projects must also align to one of the following immediate outcomes:
o Improved food security (e.g., infrastructure to secure food supply chain to provide new opportunities to grow food locally and to store it locally in reliable facilities, etc.).
o Improved and/or more reliable road, air and/or marine infrastructure.
o Improved broadband connectivity.
o More efficient and/or reliable energy.
o Improved education and/or health facilities (specific to Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action).
* Federal cost-sharing for municipalities under the Rural and Northern Communities Infrastructure stream is higher than for other streams - up to 50% of total eligible costs.
o For communities with a population under 5,000, the federal cost-sharing is up to 60% of total eligible costs.

The Canada Community-Building Fund
* The Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF), formerly the Gas Tax Fund, provides communities across Canada with permanent, ongoing federal funding for local infrastructure projects.
* The CCBF currently provides $2.3 billion annually to more than 3,600 communities.
* It is indexed at 2% per year, with increases to be applied in $100 million increments.

The Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund
* The Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF) is a $3.4 billion national, competitive program that supports public infrastructure projects, including natural infrastructure, designed to mitigate current and future climate-related risks and disasters triggered by climate change, such as floods, wildland fires, droughts and seismic events.
* In 2018, the Government of Canada launched DMAF, committing $2 billion over 10 years.
o Originally, eligible infrastructure projects had to meet a $20 million minimum threshold, which excluded many projects in smaller communities.
* Budget 2021 announced an additional $1.375 billion over 12 years starting in 2021-22 to renew DMAF, as the original $2 billion envelope has been depleted.
o $670 million of this $1.375 billion top up is allocated to small scale projects between $1 million and $20 million in eligible costs.
o In addition, a minimum of 10% ($138 million) of the total envelope is reserved for Indigenous recipients’ projects.
o These measures will support projects that help small, rural, remote, northern, and Indigenous communities adapt to the impacts of climate change.

None