Fort Frances, ON– Investing in local, modern, and effective infrastructure is essential to our communities. Municipalities have a significant impact on people’s daily lives and, when they flourish, all of Ontario and Canada benefit. That is why municipalities are at the heart of our ambitious and historic infrastructure plan – they are best placed to know the needs of their communities.
“This top up, along with the stable long-term infrastructure funding coming through the gas tax, will greatly benefit Thunder Bay—Rainy River. These investments will help stimulate economic growth and make our community more environmentally sustainable. This ensures that Northwestern Ontario will continue to be one of the best places in Canada to live, work and raise a family,” says Don Rusnak, Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay—Rainy River.
“With the ever-changing spectrum of responsibility placed on municipalities, it is very difficult to improve and replace our infrastructure. The Town of Fort Frances greatly appreciates assistance from the federal government with a top up of Federal Gas Tax funding. With these funds we will be able to complete some very important projects. Thank you, MP Rusnak, for continuing to advocate for our community,” states June Caul, Mayor of Fort Frances.
Rusnak adds, “Through Budget 2019, our government proposes a one-time municipal infrastructure top-up of $2.2 billion to communities through the federal Gas Tax Fund. This will help accelerate progress and maximize every opportunity to ensure every Canadian and residents of Thunder Bay—Rainy River continue to see real and timely results in their communities. Municipalities and local roads boards in the Fort Frances—Rainy River district will be receiving $1,104,489 through this top up.”
The individual allocations are as follows:
| Atikokan | $177,537 |
| Dance LRB | $7,763 |
| Emo | $79,754 |
| Chapple | $47,203 |
| Fort Frances | $506,557 |
| Alberton | $55,038 |
| Kabaigon Bay LRB | $2,457 |
| La Vallee | $62,937 |
| Lake of the Woods | $18,855 |
| Mine Centre LRB | $2,010 |
| Miscampbell LRB | $8,042 |
| Pratt LRB | $5,975 |
| Rainy River | $53,637 |
| Spohn LRB | $8,880 |
| Sutherland LRB | $10,947 |
| Upsala LRB | $17,703 |
| Morley | $39,194 |
Municipalities and local roads boards will be able to use the funds to complete infrastructure projects, such as the road reconstruction and Community Evacuation Centre projects currently underway in Fort Frances. These investments will create good, well-paying jobs, and make our community a better place to live.
The federal Gas Tax Fund provides predictable, long-term funding to help Canadian municipalities build and revitalize public infrastructure while creating good middle-class jobs, and contributing to a clean environment and long-term prosperity.
Quick Facts
- Budget 2019 proposes a one-time transfer of $2.2 billion through the federal Gas Tax Fund, which will help address the short-term infrastructure priorities of municipalities and First Nation communities. This investment doubles the total amount available to municipalities in 2018-19.
- Communities can invest their federal Gas Tax Fund dollars across 18 different project categories. They 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 federal Gas Tax Fund delivers over $2 billion every year to over 3600 communities across the country. In recent years the funding has supported approximately 4000 projects each year.
- Through the Investing in Canadainfrastructure plan, the Government of Canada is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and Canada’s rural and northern communities.
