The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is adjusting the cost share ratios for new municipal infrastructure projects to make it easier for communities to construct roads and build community centres via the Investing in Canada Plan.
Premier Dwight Ball announced the new cost share ratios which will lower the municipal share for municipal roads and community centres to 33 per cent of the total eligible cost under the Investing in Canada Plan. Previously, the municipal share for roads was 50 per cent and the municipal share for community centres was 40 per cent.
“We have heard the call from communities and local governments for better cost share ratios for municipal roads and community centres, and we listened,” Ball said. “Through our collaborative relationship with the Federal Government, we are pleased to have been able to lower cost shares under the Investing in Canada Plan, and now municipalities will have more funds to invest in making their communities better places to live and work.”
As an example of how this change helps communities, under previous ratios, a $600,000 roads project would have required a $300,000 commitment from a community. Under the new ratios for the Investing in Canada Plan, the community only has to contribute $200,000.
“Our members called on the Provincial Government to work with Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador on more affordable ways for municipalities to invest in roads,” said Tony Keats, president of Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador. “This announcement responds to that call and allows many of our members to get on with the important work of building their communities.”
A call for applications for municipal infrastructure projects will be issued on October 15, and the new cost share ratios will be applied to proposals for funding.
On September 10, 2018, Premier Ball announced that the Provincial Government will be leveraging more than $555 million in federal funding over the next decade for community infrastructure projects under the Investing in Canada Plan.
