Federal Government Announces a $3.3 Billion COVID-19 Infrastructure Fund

Yesterday, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Hon. Catherine McKenna announced a new, temporary $3.3 billion COVID-19 Resilience stream under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP). The money will support local COVID-19-related projects that would otherwise not be eligible under ICIP.

This new stream is the result of negotiations between the federal government, provinces, territories, municipalities, and Indigenous communities. Applications to this program are to be made through provinces and territories who will then submit them to Infrastructure Canada for review and approval.

Eligible Projects

• Retrofits, repairs, and upgrades for municipal, territorial, provincial, and Indigenous buildings, health infrastructure and schools.
• COVID-19 response infrastructure, including measures to support physical distancing.
• Active transportation infrastructure, including parks, trails, foot bridges, bike lanes and multi-use paths.
• Disaster mitigation and adaptation projects, including natural infrastructure, flood and fire mitigation, and tree planting.

Maximum Federal Contribution
This new funding stream will support projects to a maximum size of $10 million in total eligible costs. Federal contributions will be capped as follows:  

• Up to 80% for provinces, municipalities, and not-for-profit organizations in the provinces.
• Up to 100% for territories, municipalities, and not-for-profit organizations in the territories.
• Up to 100% for Indigenous ultimate recipients in provinces and territories.
• Up to 25% for for-profit private sector ultimate recipients.

Construction must start no later than September 30, 2021, and must be completed by the end of 2021, or by the end of 2022 in the territories and in remote communities.