Kawartha Lakes will see about $390,000 for long-term care, education, more

Kawartha Lakes is being allocated more than $390,000 through combined federal-provincial funding through the new COVID-19 resilience infrastructure stream. This stream seeks to build or renovate health and safety related projects in long-term care, education and for municipalities.

The funding is part of the federal government’s Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program and reinforces the commitment of both the federal and provincial governments to protect the health and well-being of individuals and families during the pandemic.

“I am very excited to announce this local funding for key infrastructure projects in HKLB,” said Laurie Scott, MPP for Haliburton- Kawartha Lakes- Brock, in a media release.

“This funding gives our municipalities the ability to continue to adapt to new challenges brought on by COVID-19 while stimulating their local economies with a variety of eligible community projects.”

Eligible projects 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 childcare 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).

“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 Premier Doug Ford.

“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.”

The COVID-19 resilience stream will deliver up to $700 million for education-related projects to be nominated and administered by the Ministry of Education and another allocation-based program will deliver $250 million to municipalities to address critical local infrastructure needs. This includes $6.5 million to be directed toward Indigenous and on-reserve education.

As well, there’s 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. Additional details about the COVID-19 resilience stream and intake opening dates will be available for municipalities to submit projects in the days and weeks ahead.

Quick Facts

• The Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) is a 10-year, $30-billion federal, provincial and municipal program that provides funding to improve public transit; community, culture and recreation; green; and rural and northern community infrastructure. Ontario is investing $10.2 billion in this program.
• To date, Ontario has nominated 760 projects to the federal government under ICIP, of which more than 390 have been approved.
• The federal COVID-19 Resilience stream has been adapted from ICIP to respond to the impacts of COVID-19. This ICIP stream, delivered through bilateral agreements with provinces and territories, has been designed to help add flexibilities, expand project eligibility and accelerate approvals.
• The COVID-19 Resilience stream will be 80 per cent cost-shared by the federal government and 20 per cent cost-shared by the province for public infrastructure ― further reinforcing the support being provided to build and renovate health and safety-related projects in long-term care, education and municipalities.
• The Ministry of Education is also investing $1.4 billion in renewal funding, which continues to meet the funding level recommended by the Auditor General of Ontario to preserve the condition of Ontario’s school facilities.