Feds commit to spending $1.1B on Manitoba infrastructure projects over decade

More than a billion dollars will flow from the federal government to infrastructure projects in Manitoba over the next decade in what officials called a historicpartnership agreement.

Manitoba Municipalities Minister Jeff Wharton said the $1.1-billion agreement part of the federal government's $33-billion plan to invest in local infrastructure projects across Canada strengthens the "government's commitment to give our municipalities fair say in how infrastructure funding is spent."

Representatives from both levels of government, as well as the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, made the announcement Monday along the riverwalk at The Forks.

The plan is to support green infrastructure, transit and active transportation, digital communication, cultural and recreational development, and remote and northern communities.

Federal Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi called the plan ambitious and said nearly 150 projects in Manitoba have already received more than $310 million in federal funding.

Those projects include upgrades to the water and waste facility in Portage la Prairie, a bus shelter and transit info centre in Brandon, and handivans in four rural Manitoba communities.

Under the agreement, the federal government will cover 40 per cent of costs for eligible transit projects, 50 per cent for projects in rural and northern communities, 60 per cent for projects in communities with populations under 5,000, and 70 per cent for projects in Indigenous communities.

Association of Manitoba Municipalities president Chris Goertzen said municipalities are responsible for 60 per cent of public infrastructure. The association will continue to serve on the committee that reviews project applications, he said.

Under the plan's four funding streams, the federal government has committed to spending $20.1 billion for public transit, $9.2 billion for green infrastructure, $1.3 billion for community, cultural and recreational infrastructure, and $2 billion for rural and northern communities.