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The federal and Alberta governments have signed an agreement to allow municipalities across the province to access hundreds of millions of dollars to invest in water and infrastructure and spur new housing developments.
Prime Minister Mark Carney stood alongside Alberta premier Danielle Smith Wednesday in Red Deer to announce the Canada-Alberta Housing Infrastructure Fund Agreement.
The agreement will allow Alberta municipalities to access a $510 million slice of the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund (CHIF) over eight years. The fund is for housing-enabling water and wastewater infrastructure projects.
“On top of the $510 million federal investment, Alberta will contribute at least a third of eligible costs for projects led by municipal governments across this province,” said Carney.
The province’s contribution will be up to $428 million for qualifying projects.
Carney has been doing announcements with other provinces with their share of the housing infrastructure money, such as in British Columbia and in Ontario.
He added that the Canada-Alberta agreement “alone will support 750 skilled trades jobs every year including engineers, pipe fitters, electricians, and plumbers,” he said.
“We are building inclusively with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. Today’s agreement will allocate at least $100 million to projects that will benefit rural and Indigenous communities,” he said.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the Canada-Alberta Housing Infrastructure Fund Agreement, which would see Ottawa invest more than $510 million in Alberta’s infrastructure in an effort to build more homes in the province.
Smith said the agreement is important as Alberta has grown significantly in population, causing “rapid population growth pressures” and housing that needs to catch up.
“Red Deer can only grow when infrastructure grows with them,” she said.
Red Deer, where Wednesday’s announcement was held, was previously embroiled in issues with federal housing funding.
Then-housing minister Jason Nixon slammed Ottawa for pulling Red Deer’s $12-million Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) grant when the community did not meet requirements for zoning, while only reducing funds for Ontario cities that failed to comply with conditions of their HAF agreements.
When asked, Carney said he “look[s] at it in the round”, taking a less prescriptive approach and ensuring there is some funding coming to the area.
“We are here as a measure of goodwill,” added Smith in regards to the issue. “I’ve talked to … [Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services Nathan] Neudorf that the reason we’re here is we recognize how important it is to continue to support Red Deer, and with the new agreement, I think we’ll have more flexibility to be able to bridge that gap.
“We recognize that there’s about a $9 million chip on the table,” she said, speaking to when the HAF agreement was terminated, the city had already received $3 million of the $12 million.
“I know that [Red Deer] Mayor [Cindy] Jeffries will do her job of lobbying on behalf of her community … the federal, provincial governments [are] prepared to work together so that we can bridge that gap from the change in the program so that there’s new parameters that will accommodate some of the new wishes of the new council.”
Mayor Cindy Jefferies said she is optimistic the new funding agreement will fill the gap left by the cancelled HAF grant.
“The prime minister’s office, as well as Minister Neudorf have indicated that this announcement today will help us move forward into a source of funds where we’ll be able to leverage more than the $9 million we’ve left on the table in the housing accelerator,” Jefferies said.
Chris Windrim, the executive director of BILD Central Alberta, a non-profit professional association for the region’s construction industry, was also happy to hear there is more housing money coming to Red Deer, as he said the $3 million left from the HAF was insufficient to meet the needs of Alberta’s third-largest city.
“When we talk about $3 million dollars in investment, that’s really not enough needed to really make any growth happen,” Windrim said.
“I’m looking forward to making sure that Red Deer is actually asking for enough funding to be supporting those next pieces that we truly need within our community.”
Protesters for Alberta independence could be heard in the background of Carney’s speech on Wednesday, which highlighted the importance of co-operation between governments.
“In an increasingly divided and dangerous world, our unity is our greatest strength,” Carney said. “Governments are working together, in the spirit of co-operative federalism, to make this country stronger, fairer, and more prosperous.”
Carney said he is working with Smith to “complete a new Alberta-Canada agreement through Build Canada Homes, which is a new fund, to scale up affordable homebuilding.”
He said that fund will be used to “build the broader infrastructure that growing communities across Alberta need, including roads and public transit, community centres, hospitals and clinics.”
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