Montreal, Quebec, September 14, 2009 – The Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports, Michelle Courchesne, and the Minister of Finance, Minister responsible for the Montreal region and Member of the National Assembly for Outremont, Raymond Bachand, today announced $3,816,760 in financial assistance to the University of Montreal for renovation of the CEPSUM physical education and sports centre.
Both the Government of Canada and the Quebec government are contributing to this project, whose cost totals $8,566,760. Funding from the Government of Quebec amounts to $2,816,760, while the Government of Canada’s contribution is $1,000,000.
The planned work involves replacing the natural turf on one of the City of Montreal’s water reservoirs by a synthetic surface on which a soccer/football/rugby field will be laid out, along with a 400-metre athletic track and beach volleyball courts. In the sports centre, renovation work will be carried out on the fitness rooms, gymnasiums and locker rooms, including the facilities of Les Carabins, the new women’s hockey team. A fitness room for high-performance athletes will be set up, and the artificial turf in the outdoor stadium will be replaced.
“The investment in CEPSUM was necessary because several of its facilities, built in the 1970s, have reached the end of their useful life,” Minister Courchesne pointed out. “The planned work will mean not only that the Centre can be equipped with a new field for team sports, but also that it can be used by the thousands of children attending day camps there.”
“The investment announced today therefore has several goals,” stated Minister Bachand. “Ensuring the University of Montreal’s outreach, providing elite sportspeople with optimum training conditions and, finally, giving Quebecers the means to stay in shape and in good health. So it is a profitable investment in several respects, and I am pleased to be associated with this government decision.”
“CEPSUM is one of Quebec’s great sports complexes, particularly by virtue of its accessibility to Montreal’s entire population. The various work planned will foster the staging of large-scale sports events, bringing together not just Montrealers, but all Quebecers,” stated the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Public Works and Government Services. “In this economic downturn, it is imperative that we support our educational institutions and our communities. Our Recreational Infrastructure Canada program, implemented under Canada’s Economic Action Plan, devotes $500 million over two years to the modernization of sports facilities Canada-wide. Support for CEPSUM is a tangible example of our government’s action.”
“These new facilities will be an ideal site for development of the 350 or so high-performance athletes in the Carabins family. Nor will residents of Montreal be left out,” stated University of Montreal Rector, Luc Vinet. “Indeed, the Bellingham field will be accessible to all Montrealers, particularly young people, under the partnership agreement we have signed with the Outremont borough. This exemplary accessibility will further strengthen the close ties we already enjoy with the Montreal community at large.”
The governments of Canada and Quebec recently signed an agreement to accelerate the execution of projects to modernize and repair recreational facilities in Quebec over the next two years. To that end, the Government of Canada’s contribution to this project is $37.4 million, while Quebec is contributing at least $37.4 million, under an arrangement whereby both governments provide funding of recreational infrastructure projects under cost-sharing partnerships with the municipality or the organization concerned.
The investment announced today ties in with the Programme de soutien aux installations sportives et récréatives of the Government of Quebec's Fonds pour le développement du sport et de l'activité physique and the Recreational Infrastructure Canada Program.
The Recreational Infrastructure Canada Program, part of Canada's Economic Action Plan adopted in January 2009, is intended to help reduce the impact of the global recession by increasing the total value of construction activities associated with recreational infrastructure. Government investment in this area will help create new jobs and improve the population's health and quality of life. For more information on this plan, please visit www.actionplan.gc.ca.
The Fonds pour le développement du sport et de l'activité physique was established by the Government of Quebec to provide the province's regions with better access to new and improved sports facilities in order to promote healthier lifestyles among their residents. For further details on this fund, visit www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/sections/fondDeveloppement (available in French only).
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Sources:
Simon Bachand
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Denis Lebel
Canada Economic Development
Tel.: 613-996-6236
Kim Ledoux
Press Secretary to the Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports
Tel.: 418-644-0664
Catherine Poulin
Press Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Tel.: 418-643-5270
