Federal budget promises dollars for Montreal for NATO climate change centre, infrastructure boost

The federal budget has some funds set aside for Montreal, for a new NATO hub on climate change and for severalinfrastructure projects in the city.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced that, starting in 2023, Ottawa will provide $40.4 million over five years to Global Affairs Canada and the Department of National Defence to build the NATO Climate Change and Security Centre of Excellence in Montreal.

Montreal was named the host city for the centre at the 2022 NATO summit in Madrid, Spain.

According to the budget, the centre will "bring together NATO allies to mitigate the impact of climate change on military activities and analyze new climate change-driven security challenges, such as the implications for Canada's Arctic."

Infrastructure spending

The federal government will spend $47.8 million over the next nine years to convert the federal part of the Bonaventure Expressway into an urban boulevard.

Ottawa is also planning on allocating$576.1 million over five years to the Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges crown companyfor the operation, maintenance and repair of its infrastructure in greater Montreal.

The Montreal Port Authority will receive $50 million from the National Trade Corridors Fund to improve air freight logistics at Montreal-Mirabel International Airport. "New cargo, warehouse, and aircraft storage facilities will expand capacity to export Canadian goods," according to the budget.

On Monday, the Quebec minister of infrastructure, Jonatan Julien, and his federal counterpart announced Quebec would benefit from an envelope of $724.9 million that was still available in the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.

Ottawa also expects Quebec to allocate approximately $695 million of its remaining project funding to extend Montreal Metro's blue line by Friday, March 31, 2023 .