Question Period Note: Canada Healthy Communities Initiative

What is the Canada Healthy Communities Initiative (CHCI) and how is it providing support to communities during the pandemic?

• The Canada Healthy Communities Initiative (CHCI) is helping communities adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic and creating safe ways for residents to access services and enjoy the outdoors.

• The CHCI is providing over $60 million towards more than 1,000 projects to build safer spaces and ensure a higher quality of life for people across the country.

• For example, a project in Carman, Manitoba, created an outdoor Wi-Fi area to allow low income families and rural residents to maintain contact through digital means during the pandemic. In North Preston, the Nova Scotia Sea School established the “Safe For Me Outdoors’ Program” to support Black, Indigenous and newcomer youth accessing outdoor programming designed to build recreational skills in a safe and inclusive environment.

• The CHCI was created to help communities adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic and create safe ways for Canadians to access services and enjoy the outdoors.

• Launched on August 13, 2020, the Canada Healthy Communities Initiative (CHCI) originally provided up to $31 million in existing federal funding to support communities as they deploy new ways to adapt spaces and services to respond to immediate and ongoing needs arising from COVID-19 over the two following years.
• Community Foundations of Canada (CFC) was selected by Infrastructure Canada through an open and competitive call for applications to work directly with communities to identify and fund local projects and solutions to the challenges presented by COVID-19.
• The original $31 million in funding over two years was provided to CFC to identify and fund local community projects that can be put into place quickly to improve the lives of Canadians.
• As announced in the 2021 Economic and Fiscal Update, an additional $30 million over three years was committed to the CHCI starting in 2022-23. On September 23, 2022, Infrastructure Canada and CFC announced that more than 400 new projects will be supported with the additional funding. Funded projects from the first and second application intake can be viewed on an interactive map.
• To date, the CHCI has provided over $60 million towards more than 1,000 projects to build safer spaces and ensure a higher quality of life for people across the country.
• The Initiative is supporting projects in communities under three main themes:
  o Creating safe and vibrant public spaces
   Projects that create or adapt existing public places such as parks, main streets, and indoor spaces that encourage safe cultural or physical activities, and local commerce.
  o Improving mobility options
   Projects that permit physical distancing through permanent or temporary changes that make it easier for people to get around in their communities, whether walking, biking, accessing public and private transit, or other modes of transportation.
  o Digital solutions
   Innovative digital projects that address changing community needs through the use of data and connected technologies.
• Eligible projects range from $5,000 and $250,000.

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