B.C.’s local governments and regional districts will get a share of $1 billion from the provincial government to help address local infrastructure needs.
The District of 100 Mile House will receive $1.265 million and the Village of Clinton $718,000 from the one-time grant, while the Cariboo Regional District and Thompson-Nicola Regional District are set to receive $3.94 million and $5.441 million respectively.
Premier David Eby announced in February that the government would distribute the grants by the end of March 2023.
Eby said the formula also recognizes that rural communities with smaller populations have higher costs in delivering services.
He clarified that money could not be used for operating costs but must go toward infrastructure and amenities such as community centres, sewage plants and roads among other items.
“Our communities are growing and this puts more pressure on community centres, parks, and swimming pools that families rely on,” he said.
Local governments will also put the money into a separate account to make sure they are accountable to their communities so that residents can see how much money has gone into which projects, he added.
CRD Chair Margo Wagner said the funding is welcomed.
“It will help fund infrastructure that is needed for the growth of our region,” she said. “Now that the amount is known, our board will be considering where best to utilize these funds in order to maximize the benefit to our region.”
Municipalities did not have to apply for the grants and the province would instead use a population-based formula that looks at population growth between 2016 and 2021 to hand out the money with the smallest grant amount being $500,000.
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