COST OF LIVING

Commitment 3.5.5 – We will support community governments to access available federal funding through the Investing in Canada Plan to invest in community public infrastructure.

Background:

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) is working in partnership with NWT community governments and the Government of Canada on the negotiation and implementation of funding agreements for two long-term federal infrastructure funding plans – the New Building Canada Plan and the Investing in Canada Plan.

The New Building Canada Plan was announced in 2013 and included an updated Gas Tax Administrative Agreement as well as the Small Communities Fund which provides base infrastructure funding to provinces and territories. The Small Communities Fund includes the delivery of $38.7 million in infrastructure investments in communities across the Northwest Territories.

The GNWT and the Government of Canada are also working on the implementation of the Investing in Canada Plan which was announced in 2016. Phase I of the plan includes $52 million in infrastructure investments under the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund and the Clean Water Wastewater Fund in communities across the Northwest Territories.

Phase II of the Investing in Canada Plan includes infrastructure funding over 12 years to all provinces and territories provided through five key areas; public transit, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, rural and northern communities, and trade and transportation.

MACA is working with NWT community governments and the Department of Infrastructure to ensure community governments are able to achieve the maximum benefits through the federal infrastructure programs. The actions to achieve this include implementation of the Small Communities Fund (Milestone 1), implementation of the Public Transit and Clean Water and Wastewater Fund (Milestone 2), continued implementation of the Gas Tax Fund (Milestone 3), and the negotiation of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Plan bilateral agreements (Milestone 4).

Related Mandate Commitments:

• Commitment 1.4.4 – We commit to assisting community governments as they innovate to address climate change by supporting the development of community government capital plans and asset planning, and ensuring that training recognizes the challenges of climate change.
• Commitment 3.3.3 – We will assist community governments to improve energy efficiency and conservation, to reduce the impact of climate change by supporting development of community governments’ capital and asset plans, to ensure training includes challenges related to climate change, and enable community governments to use local improvement charges for the purpose of assisting residents and/or businesses in implementing energy efficiency retrofits and/or renewable energy technologies.
• Commitment 5.4.4 – We will continue to pursue and assist communities in accessing new federal funding for the enhancement of community government infrastructure, including implementing the asset management framework through the Gas Tax Agreement to ensure that all communities have asset management plans.
• Commitment 5.4.9 – We will assist community governments with technical assistance in identifying energy efficiency improvements for community government buildings and taking action to improve energy efficiency.