Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell today announced their governments’ commitment of $336 million to upgrade a portion of the Trans-Canada Highway in Kicking Horse Pass and to improve trade corridors linking to the province’s border crossings.

"I am particularly pleased that these projects will help reduce bottlenecks at the Douglas/Blaine and Huntingdon/Sumas border crossing, which are two of Canada’s major border crossings, while making them safer than ever," said Prime Minister Chrétien. "This partnership with the Government of British Columbia will have a tremendous impact on trade throughout Western Canada and boost the region’s economy."

"These investments in the gateways to our province reflect our throne speech commitments to invest in transportation improvements that will help revitalize our economy by opening up B.C. to new opportunities," said Campbell. "In particular, we’re taking an important step toward meeting our number one infrastructure priority of improving the Trans-Canada Highway through the Kicking Horse Canyon."

Prime Minister Chrétien and Premier Campbell announced that their governments’ would provide an additional $125 million to replace the 10-Mile (Park) Bridge and construct over 5km of new four-lane highway in Kicking Horse Pass on the Trans-Canada Highway, east of Golden, British Columbia.

This follows a $60 million contribution announced in July 2002 from the Government of Canada and the provincial government for the twinning of the 5-Mile (Yoho) Bridge, also located in the Kicking Horse Canyon, as well as an over $8 million contribution for the Victoria Road intersection in Revelstoke, and almost $12 million to replace the Woods overhead structure and upgrade 1.5km of highway west of Revelstoke, for a total contribution to date of almost $206 million for improvements to Highway 1 corridor through the Rocky Mountains. The Government of Canada’s contributions are made through the Strategic Highway Infrastructure Program.

This investment demonstrates the governments’ commitment to the Trans-Canada Highway through the Kicking Horse Canyon. Prime Minister Chrétien and Premier Campbell stated their governments’ support to complete these improvements over the next several years.

In addition, a total of $211 million will be invested for eight highway accesses leading to border crossings. The Government of Canada will provide $90 million from the Border Infrastructure Fund; the Government of British Columbia will provide $121 million.

The projects announced today will provide for major infrastructure improvements on Highways 10, 11,15, 91, 91A, and Knight Street. The Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority (TransLink) will also contribute $9 million towards the Knight Street project.

Through the $2-billion Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund, the Government of Canada is working with provincial, territorial and municipal governments, as well as with the private sector, to respond to strategic infrastructure needs throughout the country. These investments are directed to large-scale projects of major national and regional significance, in areas that are vital to sustaining economic growth and supporting an enhanced quality of life for Canadians. Last December, the Government of Canada announced a contribution of over $200 million through the Fund towards the $495 million expansion of the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre.

In the Speech from the Throne of September 30, 2002, the Government of Canada committed to an additional 10-year involvement in public infrastructure. The Federal Budget 2003 reaffirmed this long-term commitment and provided an additional $3 billion in infrastructure support, including $1 billion for municipal infrastructure. In combination with the $5.25 billion in infrastructure programs announced in Budget 2000 and 2001, this brings the federal government’s recent investment in the nation’s infrastructure to over $8 billion.

Similarly, in its Budget 2003 on February 18, the Government of British Columbia committed a total of $650 million in additional transportation improvements over the next three years, including these projects and investments in Heartlands roads.

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For more information on the Infrastructure Canada Program, visit the Infrastructure Canada Web site at: www.infrastructurecanada.gc.ca

The $50 million Green Municipal Enabling Fund and the $200 million Green Municipal Investment Fund are endowments created by the Government of Canada in 2000, and are managed by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, to support energy and water efficiency projects.

The Green Municipal Funds and the Infrastructure Canada Program are two initiatives that complement each other. The Green Municipal Funds support environmental innovation and high levels of performance improvement to develop knowledge and decrease costs, while the Infrastructure Canada Program supports municipal projects with environmental benefits.

In an effort to provide municipal governments with enough flexibility to implement innovative environmental infrastructure projects, arrangements have been made for them to seek funding through both the Infrastructure Canada Program and the Green Municipal Funds, should a proposed project meet the criteria for both programs.

The GMEF is a $50-million fund that provides grants to support feasibility studies. Operating from 2000 to 2007, the GMEF expects to support each year a large number of studies to assess the technical, environmental and economic feasibility of innovative municipal projects. Grants cover up to 50 per cent of eligible costs to a maximum grant of $100,000. The Fund is open to Canadian municipalities and their public-sector or private-sector partners. Applications are accepted each spring and autumn.

Feasibility studies must assess projects that would improve air, water or soil quality, protect the environment or promote the use of renewable resources. The projects must also show potential for significant improvements in environmental performance or energy efficiency by reducing pollution and waste at the source. Applications can be made in the following categories:

• Municipal buildings and facilities
• Energy services and renewable energy
• Water supply, sewage treatment or storm run-off management
• Solid waste management
• Sustainable transportation services and technologies
• Sustainable community planning

The GMIF is a $200-million permanent revolving fund that supports the implementation of innovative environmental projects. It offers the opportunity for a municipality or its partner to borrow at competitive rates for up to 15 per cent (25 per cent in exceptional circumstances) of capital costs for a qualifying project. The GMIF can also provide loan guarantees. Loan payback periods may range from four to ten years.

Projects must add to the national knowledge base on innovative technologies or practices and their regional implementation. They must also generate measurable and verifiable results, both environmental and economic. GMIF expects to support 15 to 20 projects a year. Applications are accepted year-round.

For more information on the Green Municipal Funds, visit the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Web site at www.fcm.ca.

The Prairie Grain Roads Program is a federal initiative established to improve municipal grain roads and provincial secondary highways. Traffic on these essential roads has increased as a result of changing transportation policies and the restructuring of grain handling systems. The program provides assistance to upgrade some of the municipal roads and secondary provincial highways used for the transportation of grain in the Prairie provinces and the Peace River region of British Columbia.

The Cultural Spaces Canada (CSC) program was created in 2001 to improve Canada’s cultural infrastructure. Its aim is to help improve physical conditions for artistic creativity and innovation and to increase and improve access for Canadians to performing arts, visual arts, media arts and to museum collections and heritage displays through the improvement, renovation and creation of arts and heritage facilities.

The Program contributes towards the costs associated with the construction, adaptive re-use, or renovation of buildings for arts and heritage activities, specialized equipment purchases or feasibility studies.

Funding is provided to successful applicants of up to 33 per cent of total eligible project costs for construction and renovation of arts and heritage facilities, as well as for projects that transform buildings that were not previously used for cultural purposes into arts or heritage facilities.

The Program provides funding to successful applicants of up to 50 per cent of total eligible project costs for specialized equipment purchases and feasibility studies. The Program does not support regular building maintenance costs.

The following are eligible applicants:

• Non-profit arts and heritage organizations incorporated under Part II of the Canada Business Corporations Act or under corresponding provincial or territorial legislation
• Provincial/territorial governments
• Municipal or regional governments, and their agencies
• First Nations/Inuit governments.

The CSC program is administered under the responsibility of the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

For more information on the Cultural Spaces Canada program, visit the Canadian Heritage Web site at: www.pch.gc.ca.

In Budget 2001, the Government of Canada confirmed its contribution of $680 million over five years to a capital grants program to help stimulate the creation of more affordable rental housing. The Government of Canada announced in Budget 2003 an additional investment of $320 million, thus bringing the total contribution made through the Affordable Housing Program to $1 billion.

The final framework was developed and agreed to on November 30, 2001, and includes the following:

• Provinces and territories have the primary responsibility for the design and delivery of the program
• Provinces and territories require flexible programs to address their housing needs
• The initiative needs to create affordable housing for low to moderate income households
• Units funded will remain affordable for a minimum of 10 years
• Provinces and territories will be required to match the Government of Canada’s contributions overall.

The Affordable Housing Program falls under the purview of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). As such, the CMHC is in the process of concluding bilateral cost-sharing agreements with the provinces and the territories.

The Minister of Transport is responsible for the CMHC.

For more information on the Affordable Housing program, visit CMHC Web site at www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca.

The Strategic Highway Infrastructure Program was created in 2001 to address highway infrastructure needs across Canada. The Minister of Transport is responsible to Parliament for the Program.

Projects funded under Strategic Highway Infrastructure Program must meet one or more of the following long-term objectives:

• Support trade, tourism and investment in Canada
• Strengthen national unity by sustaining strategic infrastructure investments in all regions of the country to respond to local needs
• Make the Canadian surface transportation system more reliable, efficient, competitive, integrated and sustainable
• Improve the quality of life of Canadians by promoting safer and more environmentally sustainable transportation.

The Strategic Highway Infrastructure Program is two-fold; it has a highway construction component and a national system integration component.

1. Highway Construction ($500 million):

Under the Highway Construction component, $500 million was allocated to address the needs of Canada’s highways over the next five years.

The Government of Canada has been working with the provinces and territories to identify those parts of the National Highway System that need immediate attention due to growing traffic and increasing trade. This will result in a safer and more efficient highway system for all Canadians.

The Highway Construction component of Strategic Highway Infrastructure Program is governed by agreements signed with each province and territory.

b) National System Integration ($100 million)

The National System Integration component will fund initiatives that better integrate Canada’s transportation system. These include the deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), improvements to border crossings and better transportation planning. ITS includes the application of advanced technologies for traffic management, traveller information and vehicle control, commercial vehicle and fleet management, public transit and rural transportation.

Provincial and territorial agreements for this component of Strategic Highway Infrastructure Program are signed on a project-by-project basis, with no pre-set allocation.

For more information on the Strategic Highway Infrastructure Program, visit Transport Canada Web site at www.tc.gc.ca.

In Budget 2001, the Government of Canada announced its intention to provide at least

$2 billion in funding for large-scale strategic infrastructure projects that improve quality of life and further economic growth. On March 27, 2002, the Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund Act received Royal Assent, thereby establishing the Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund.

The program’s main objective is to provide for the funding of large-scale strategic infrastructure projects across Canada that go beyond the capacity of existing programs. The Fund calls for partnerships with municipal and provincial governments, as well as with the private sector, to meet Canada’s essential infrastructure needs of the 21^st century economy.

The new program will invest in the following areas:

• Highway and Railway Infrastructure
• Local Transportation Infrastructure
• Tourism or Urban Development Infrastructure
• Water or Sewage Infrastructure
• Broadband

The Government of Canada will make a maximum contribution of 50 per cent towards the total eligible costs of projects. All projects will be selected under the authority of the Minister responsible for Infrastructure.

For provinces and territories whose population is less than 750,000 people, total eligible project costs must exceed $10 million. This applies to Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. For provinces whose population exceeds 750,000 but is less than 1.5 million people, total eligible project costs must exceed $25 million. This applies to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. For provinces whose population exceeds

1.5 million people, total eligible project costs must exceed $75 million. This currently applies to Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario.

For more information on the Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund, visit the Infrastructure Canada Web site at: www.infrastructurecanada.gc.ca

In Budget 2001, the Government of Canada announced its intention to provide $600 million to support improved efficiency at Canada’s borders. The Border Infrastructure Fund is a comprehensive approach towards sustaining and increasing the long-term efficiency of the Canada-U.S. border. It encompasses physical infrastructure, intelligent transportation systems, and helps support analytic knowledge, which will provide decision makers with better knowledge of today’s border issues as they pertain to congestion.

In the wake of the events of September 11, 2001, the Government of Canada renewed its commitment to public and economic security by signing a declaration for the creation of a Smart Border for the 21^st century between the United States and Canada. The Smart Border Action Plan is supported by four pillars: (i) secure flow of people, (ii) secure flow of goods, (iii) secure infrastructure, and (iv) coordination and information sharing in the enforcement of these objectives.

This Program will be implemented in co-operation with provincial, territorial and municipal governments, academic and research institutes, and with partners from the public and private sectors on both sides of the border to form an integral component of the Smart Border Action Plan.

The two central objectives of the Border Infrastructure Fund are (1) to support the Smart Border Action Plan by reducing border bottlenecks; and (2) to expand existing infrastructure capacity over the medium term to support ongoing economic growth.

In fulfilling these objectives, funding will be largely targeted towards major crossings, such as Windsor, Ontario; Sarnia, Ontario; Niagara Falls, Ontario; Fort Erie, Ontario; Douglas, British Columbia; and Lacolle, Quebec.

The Government of Canada will make a maximum contribution of 50 per cent towards the total eligible costs of each project.

All projects will be selected under the authority of the Minister responsible for Infrastructure based on the following investment criteria:

• Mitigation of congestion;
• Enhancement of system capacity;
• Coordination with adjacent U.S. border facility and road access network;
• Support implementation of the Smart Border Action Plan;
• Enhancing safety and security at border crossings; and
• Leveraging public and private sector funding.

The last Speech from the Throne formally committed the Government of Canada to an additional 10-year involvement in public infrastructure. Budget 2003 confirmed this long-term commitment and provided an additional $3 billion in infrastructure support, including $1 billion for municipal infrastructure. In combination with the $5.25 billion in infrastructure programs announced in Budget 2000 and 2001, this brings the federal government’s recent investment in the nation’s infrastructure to over $8 billion.

For more information on Infrastructure Canada and its programs, please visit: www.infrastructurecanada.gc.ca