Federal Gas Tax Allocations

As you know, the Prime Minister announced on June 1st that the Federal Government would be fast-tracking to $2.2 billion in annual Gas Tax funding to municipalities to help with jump-starting the economy post-COVID.

Infrastructure and Communities Minister Catherine McKenna released further details on this Friday past in the form of a breakdown of the allocated funding by the municipality. The following link will bring you to the allocations for Municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Background Information

On June 1, 2020, the Government of Canada announced that the allocation of $2.2 billion under the federal Gas Tax Fund would be accelerated this year and provided in a single payment in June to help Canadian communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic as quickly as possible while respecting public health guidelines.

The federal Gas Tax Fund (GTF) is a permanent source of funding provided up front, twice a year, to provinces and territories, who in turn flow this funding to their municipalities to support local infrastructure priorities. Municipalities can pool, bank, and borrow against this funding, providing significant financial flexibility.

The federal Gas Tax Fund delivers over $2 billion every year to 3600 communities across the country. In recent years the funding has supported approximately 4000 projects each year. Communities select how best to direct the funds with the flexibility to make strategic investments across the following 18 different project categories:

• public transit

• wastewater infrastructure

• drinking water

• solid waste management

• community energy systems

• local roads and bridges

• capacity building

• highways

• local and regional airports

• short-line rail

• short-sea shipping

• disaster mitigation

• broadband and connectivity

• brownfield redevelopment

• culture

• tourism

• sport

• recreation

Under the agreement for the federal Gas Tax Fund, the provinces and territories are accountable for reporting to the federal government on the projects that were funded and the benefits that were achieved.