Archived - Harper Government Invests to Get Ottawa Moving
July 27, 2015 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Finance
Royal Galipeau, Member of Parliament (Ottawa–Orléans) and Federal Interlocutor for Light Rail Transit in Ottawa, and Pierre Poilievre, Regional Minister for Eastern Ontario and Member of Parliament (Nepean–Carleton), today announced that the Harper Government will commit up to $1 billion for the Stage 2 Light Rail Transit project. This contribution will be up to one-third of eligible costs, once a formal application has been received and approved. This transit project will create jobs, economic growth and reduce traffic congestion in Canada’s fifth largest city.
This contribution is from the new Public Transit Fund, which was announced in Economic Action Plan 2015 to provide significant permanent support for large-scale public transit projects that address congestion and reduce commute time in Canada’s largest cities. The Public Transit Fund will also free up additional funding for a range of other infrastructure projects in municipalities across Canada under the New Building Canada Fund and the P3 Canada Fund, including smaller-scale transit projects in smaller communities.
With the Public Transit Fund, the Harper Government has committed over $80 billion to support federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal infrastructure projects across the country over the ten-year period of the New Building Canada Plan – the largest and longest infrastructure commitment in Canadian history.
- The Harper Government has provided unprecedented support for public transit, committing close to $5 billion for public transport projects across the country since 2006.
- In addition, $3 billion of the funding under the Gas Tax Fund has been allocated by municipalities to public transit projects.
- The City of Ottawa’s Stage 1 Light Rail Transit received a total federal contribution of $761 million from the Building Canada Fund and the Gas Tax Fund.
- PPP Canada Inc., a federal Crown corporation, will administer the Public Transit Fund on behalf of the Harper Government. The mandate of PPP Canada is to improve the delivery of public infrastructure by achieving better value, timeliness and accountability to taxpayers, through public-private partnerships (P3s).
Nicholas Bergamini
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Finance
613-369-5696
David Barnabe
Media Relations
Department of Finance
613-369-4000
