Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced further details regarding the new Public Transit Fund (PTF), the Government’s largest dedicated infrastructure program to promote public transit infrastructure investment in a manner that is affordable for taxpayers and efficient for consumers.
Announced in Economic Action Plan 2015, the new PTF will provide significant permanent support for large-scale public transit projects to address traffic congestion, reduce travel time for goods and people, and support economic growth in Canada’s largest cities. The PTF also frees up funds under the New Building Canada Plan and the P3 Canada Fund that might have been used up by large-scale transit projects. This will ensure that more funding under the Plan is available for infrastructure projects in municipalities across Canada, including smaller-scale transit projects in smaller communities.
In order to be eligible for support under the PTF, projects must have a minimum of $1 billion in total estimated eligible costs. Federal contributions under the fund will be up to one-third of the total eligible costs and lever the expertise, ingenuity and financing of the private sector and alternative funding mechanisms.
The Prime Minister also announced that funds will be made available within the PTF for Toronto’s SmartTrack regional express rail surface line. As currently proposed, the line will provide relief for the overcrowded Yonge-University-Spadina Subway Line and connect Toronto to major employment centres in Mississauga and Markham. The Government will contribute up to one-third of the costs for the SmartTrack public transit system proposal, approximately $2.6 billion, once a formal application has been received and approved.
The PTF builds on our Government’s unprecedented funding and support for federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal infrastructure projects across the country over the 10-year period of the New Building Canada Plan. This represents the largest and longest federal commitment to public infrastructure in Canadian history; an investment plan that is generating jobs, opportunities, economic growth and prosperity across the country.
The Prime Minister also announced that the level of support provided for new project applications under the $2.5 billion P3 Canada Fund currently administered by PPP Canada will increase from 25 to 33.3 per cent of eligible project costs.
