Electricity demand in the Windsor-Essex and Chatham areas is expected to quadruple by 2035, and additional capacity is needed to supply the region’s rapidly expanding agricultural sector.

A series of projects in the southwestern communities will share in more than $8 million in funding from the federal and provincial governments. The projects will conclude by December 2022, and bring broadband access to more than 3,000 homes and businesses.

The City of Brampton will receive combined federal and provincial funding of nearly $130 million to build a 400,000-square foot public-transit maintenance and storage facility.

The document allocates more than $160 million for spending on construction projects, including $58 million for road works, $45 million for water and wastewater projects, and more than $65 million for work on various city facilities.

The $2.5-billion projects are now more than 65 percent complete. Early operations are already in progress, and the plants and are heading toward full start-up activities by the end of next year.