Building stronger communities across British Columbia with the federal Gas Tax Fund

Doubling of the federal Gas Tax Fund delivers a boost in B.C. for 190 recipients 

VICTORIA, BC, Aug. 26, 2019 /CNW/ - Modern public infrastructure is key to promoting economic growth, strengthening the middle class and developing healthy, sustainable communities. That is why the Government of Canada is renewing its commitment to local governments through the federal Gas Tax Fund and delivering much needed support for their local priorities. 

British Columbia has received the first of two $140.2 million annual installments of the federal Gas Tax Fund (GTF), along with a top-up of $278.6 million, made available through Budget 2019. This top-up doubles the amount of money for B.C. communities, based on their allocations for 2018-19, enabling them to carry out infrastructure projects that support the well-being of their residents.  

The federal GTF is a long-term, indexed source of funding that supports a diverse range of local infrastructure projects across the province each year. For example, the City of Kimberley used Gas Tax funding to reconstruct Gerry Sorensen Way, the major connector between the resort municipality's downtown core and the local ski areas. The Village of Granisle has achieved carbon neutral status by installing a Bioenergy District Heating system. In the Cariboo Regional District, residents are benefitting from an upgraded and expanded aquatic centre at Sam Ketcham Pool.

This predictable funding, enhanced by a doubling of the 2018-19 GTF allocations, as announced in Budget 2019, is allowing communities to plan for current and future infrastructure priorities, so they can build the resilient infrastructure of the 21st century that residents deserve, and help ensure that B.C. remains among the best places in the world to live.

Quotes

"The Government of Canada is proud to deliver this stable, predictable long-term funding that communities rely on to develop their public infrastructure. By working with other orders of government, we are making significant progress and delivering concrete results for all Canadians. From improving roads, water services and energy efficiency, to enhancing recreation and tourism centres, the federal Gas Tax Fund is helping keep families safe, promote economic development and improve people's quality of life across the country."

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities

"Investing in local infrastructure helps deliver the services people count on and build strong, connected communities right across British Columbia. We are grateful to the Government of Canada for investing in communities in a way that works for them, by delivering stable funding that helps get important projects off the ground."

Selina Robinson, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing

"Communities throughout BC are eagerly awaiting this year's federal Gas Tax transfer. The funding increase provided by the one-time top-up will help to accelerate the upgrade, expansion and construction of locally prioritized infrastructure. Local governments across the province are appreciative of the federal government's continued commitment to the Gas Tax program."

Councillor Arjun Singh, President of the Union of BC Municipalities

Quick Facts

• The federal Gas Tax Fund delivers over $2 billion every year to over 3,600 communities across the country. In recent years the funding has supported approximately 4,000 projects each year.
• To help address the short-term infrastructure priorities of local governments, Budget 2019 includes a top-up of $2.2 billion to the federal Gas Tax Fund.
• The federal Gas Tax Fund is flexible in allowing communities to apply funding to their most pressing local needs. Communities can invest across 18 different project categories, including recreation, water systems and roads. They can also 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.
• Through its Investing in Canada 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.
• The plan includes more than $92 billion for funding such as the Gas Tax Fund and more than $95 billion in new funding for infrastructure programs.
• To date, more than 48,000 projects have been approved under the plan and the majority of these projects are either underway, or already completed.

Related product

2019‒2020 federal Gas Tax Fund allocations in British Columbia by community:

Backgrounder

British Columbia's 2019‒20 federal Gas Tax Fund allocations

The Government of Canada has delivered the first of two $140.2 million federal Gas Tax Fund (GTF) installments to British Columbia for the 2019-20 fiscal year. 

In addition to the regular installments, B.C. communities will benefit this year from a top-up to their funding, as announced in Budget 2019. This top-up will accelerate progress and maximize every opportunity to ensure that Canadians in every community across the country continue to see real and timely results in the renewal of public infrastructure.

The GTF will provide British Columbia with a total of $559 million this fiscal year for local infrastructure projects and will be allocated to the Greater Vancouver Regional Fund ($278 million), the Strategic Priorities Fund ($61 million) and the Community Works Fund ($219.5 million).

The following table indicates the 2019-20 federal GTF allocations and Budget 2019 top-up amount for B.C's Community Works Fund recipients.¹

Ultimate Recipient	Allocation 2019-20 ($)	Budget 2019 top-up ($)
100 Mile House	138,469	138,460
Abbotsford	6,006,957	5,953,806
Alberni-Clayoquot	461,491	488,809
Alert Bay	75,709	74,788
Anmore	61,738	61,694
Armstrong	270,389	267,880
Ashcroft	120,706	127,060
Barriere	127,230	133,467
Belcarra	57,049	57,147
Bowen Island	66,137	65,808
Bulkley-Nechako	857,755	922,803
Burnaby	751,611	756,065
Burns Lake	130,009	144,778
Cache Creek	95,661	101,078
Campbell River	1,426,854	1,433,106
Canal Flats	83,243	86,718
Capital	1,123,994	1,148,063
Cariboo	1,703,447	1,797,020
Castlegar	393,511	400,482
Central Coast	194,832	196,785
Central Kootenay	1,355,843	1,396,608
Central Okanagan	749,534	705,850
Central Saanich	762,878	759,271
Chase	151,350	165,369
Chetwynd	160,484	171,555
Chilliwack	3,582,018	3,498,795
Clearwater	152,949	158,122
Clinton	82,107	83,227
Coldstream	503,332	510,858
Columbia Shuswap	895,976	926,691
Colwood	764,772	766,208
Comox Valley	1,029,453	1,045,507
Comox	645,606	657,246
Coquitlam	471,912	452,217
Courtenay	1,132,665	1,119,960
Cowichan Valley	1,627,385	1,632,472
Cranbrook	898,965	908,752
Creston	280,365	289,575
Cumberland	213,100	205,269
Dawson Creek	567,734	566,930
Delta	361,058	368,711
Duncan	263,233	273,050
East Kootenay	736,317	734,218
Elkford	160,316	166,606
Enderby	179,889	184,678
Esquimalt	798,278	771,334
Fernie	293,624	263,152
Fort St. James	122,390	129,843
Fort St. John	903,511	884,891
Fraser Lake	96,713	106,690
Fraser Valley	821,219	790,069
Fraser-Fort George	692,919	708,722
Fruitvale	135,944	144,204
Gibsons	248,964	251,178
Gold River	106,142	111,108
Golden	211,206	218,657
Grand Forks	225,560	231,206
Granisle	67,879	68,513
Greenwood	83,117	86,409
Harrison Hot Springs	116,918	119,990
Hazelton	68,300	67,055
Highlands	148,782	148,799
Hope	315,302	318,870
Houston	181,110	194,178
Hudson's Hope	97,849	97,985
Invermere	197,863	185,694
Jumbo	55,125	55,125
Kamloops	3,855,286	3,840,882
Kaslo	95,871	100,460
Kelowna	5,416,939	5,238,658
Kent	310,504	305,394
Keremeos	118,349	113,892
Kimberley	367,666	349,049
Kitimat	397,384	423,414
Kitimat-Stikine	741,200	766,959
Kootenay Boundary	478,160	487,616
Ladysmith	414,642	405,121
Lake Country	599,052	572,453
Lake Cowichan	190,917	186,534
Langford	1,542,778	1,346,590
Langley (City)	132,591	133,883
Langley (Township)	406,084	382,258
Lantzville	206,870	214,238
Lillooet	150,887	157,725
Lions Bay	59,117	59,264
Logan Lake	139,016	146,722
Lumby	132,282	131,611
Lytton	65,606	65,199
Mackenzie	211,459	210,085
Maple Ridge	301,264	293,940
Masset	88,505	94,185
McBride	81,054	81,018
Merritt	355,627	369,419
Metchosin	253,299	267,350
Metro Vancouver	130,491	121,473
Midway	82,443	84,906
Mission	1,689,725	1,664,640
Montrose	97,050	100,636
Mount Waddington	198,789	220,513
Nakusp	122,684	124,453
Nanaimo (City)	3,864,715	3,758,343
Nanaimo (Regional District)	1,744,404	1,756,237
Nelson	500,133	507,146
New Denver	75,035	77,395
New Hazelton	79,539	84,553
New Westminster	267,570	262,300
North Coast Regional District	203,250	210,924
North Cowichan	1,304,279	1,327,987
North Okanagan	836,288	859,794
North Saanich	528,630	545,102
North Vancouver (City)	213,415	206,468
North Vancouver (District)	312,273	320,192
Northern Rockies	282,133	301,594
Oak Bay	816,757	851,133
Okanagan-Similkameen	1,035,977	1,065,302
Oliver	262,560	268,278
Osoyoos	269,168	269,206
Parksville	581,878	584,339
Peace River	1,016,657	996,019
Peachland	283,606	284,892
Pemberton	163,473	159,801
Penticton	1,476,229	1,507,824
Pitt Meadows	110,702	110,819
Port Alberni	799,246	839,115
Port Alice	83,075	90,695
Port Clements, Village of	66,995	71,827
Port Coquitlam	230,513	232,048
Port Edward	74,782	79,162
Port Hardy	229,054	232,222
Port McNeill	153,496	165,811
Port Moody	155,522	158,672
Pouce Coupe	88,463	87,734
Powell River (City)	608,943	636,832
Prince George	3,170,138	3,235,359
Prince Rupert	569,502	607,802
Princeton	174,206	175,487
qathet (Regional District)	345,230	352,010
Qualicum Beach	431,563	438,968
Queen Charlotte	90,988	96,836
Quesnel	470,962	497,293
Radium Hot Springs	87,789	89,457
Revelstoke	372,801	372,424
Richmond	648,536	653,241
Rossland	212,090	212,250
Saanich	4,859,964	4,904,613
Salmo	103,153	105,453
Salmon Arm	800,425	826,787
Sayward	68,216	69,132
Sechelt Indian Government District	84,253	91,313
Sechelt	485,148	465,656
Sicamous	157,369	162,983
Sidney	546,435	549,035
Silverton	63,333	63,741
Slocan	66,574	68,204
Smithers	282,470	293,905
Sooke	602,377	560,390
Spallumcheen	270,052	278,485
Sparwood	214,405	217,155
Squamish	876,445	813,266
Squamish-Lillooet	326,625	342,245
Stewart	72,004	76,953
Strathcona	484,685	498,795
Summerland	544,036	553,542
Sun Peaks	81,054	71,518
Sunshine Coast	664,548	677,881
Surrey	1,604,828	1,525,508
Tahsis	65,564	69,088
Taylor	116,960	115,792
Telkwa	110,982	114,776
Terrace	545,214	562,644
Thompson-Nicola	1,019,098	1,076,128
Tofino	136,449	138,018
Trail	379,620	394,517
Tumbler Ridge	138,764	174,869
Ucluelet	127,399	127,015
Valemount	98,102	100,195
Vancouver	1,944,757	1,950,218
Vanderhoof	241,976	253,078
Vernon	1,743,730	1,742,097
Victoria	3,666,373	3,590,746
View Royal	493,230	469,633
Warfield	125,841	130,241
Wells	64,259	65,951
West Kelowna	1,429,674	1,420,115
West Vancouver	182,219	189,191
Whistler	554,096	489,207
White Rock	114,829	115,853
Williams Lake	507,752	533,746
Zeballos	59,629	60,648

Other B.C. Gas Tax Fund Streams:

Ultimate Recipient	Allocation 2019-20 ($)	Budget 2019 top-up ($)
Greater Vancouver Regional Fund (TransLink)	140,057,850	138,020,414
Strategic Priorities Fund	30,642,120	30,725,432

^1	Amounts exclude administrative costs.

Associated links

Budget 2019, Investing in the Middle Class: https://www.budget.gc.ca/2019/home-accueil-en.html

Investing in Canada, Canada's long-term infrastructure plan: http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/icp-publication-pic-eng.html

Federal infrastructure investments in British Columbia: https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/investments-2002-investissements/bc-eng.html

The federal Gas Tax Fund: http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/gtf-fte-eng.html

The federal Gas Tax Fund in British Columbia: https://www.ubcm.ca/EN/main/funding/renewed-gas-tax-agreement.html

Twitter: @INFC_eng
Web: Infrastructure Canada

SOURCE Infrastructure Canada

Ann-Clara Vaillancourt, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, 613-697-3778, [email protected]; Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Media Relations, 778 698-9176, [email protected]; Infrastructure Canada, 613-960-9251, Toll free: 1-877-250-7154, [email protected]

Related Links

www.infrastructure.gc.ca