Mississauga City Council approved 11 short-term projects on December 9 that the city will submit for funding consideration under the COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure Stream of the federal government’s Investing in Canada Infrastructure plan.

Combined, the projects are valued at $14.85 million. They include work on municipal building infrastructure retrofits and life cycle maintenance; active transportation infrastructure; reforestation and tree planting; and disaster mitigation infrastructure.

“These types of investments are important in building strong and vibrant communities that help our economy run smoothly,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie. “Cities are the economic engines of this country. Mississauga generates $60 billion in GDP alone, every year. We’re home to more than 450,000 jobs and 94,000 businesses. This COVID-19 Resilience Stream gives us the opportunity to put forward projects on an accelerated timeline.”

The COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure Stream is cost-shared between the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario. Mississauga has been allocated a total $14.8 million under the program, but the funding must be applied for, and the projects must receive federal approval before proceeding.

“Access to this type of funding also allows us to complete projects without financial impact to the city, as no municipal funding contribution is required – helping us respond to the unprecedented financial impacts we’ve experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Crombie. “We’ve heard from residents about their priorities and we are in a strong position to put forward projects we are confident will be approved by the federal and provincial governments.”

The projects put forward by the city include renovation work at the Living Arts Centre and various fire halls, construction of a cycle track between Matheson Boulevard East and Commerce Boulevard, construction of multi-use trails on Eglinton Avenue East and Kennedy Road, the redevelopment of several bridges, as well as work on the JJ Plaus Pier Development.

Projects submitted and approved must begin construction no later than September 30, 2021. The projects must be substantially completed by the end of 2021.

“As a result of our deliberate and detailed business planning and capital budgeting process, we responded quickly to this new funding stream opportunity. We brought forward a list of projects that meet the criteria for council’s consideration and approval in advance of the January 7, 2021 submission deadline,” said Gary Kent, Commissioner of Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer. “The next steps are for staff to complete the funding applications for the projects endorsed by council today prior to the submission deadline.”

Through ICIP, the federal government is providing $33 billion in federal infrastructure funding to cost-share projects under the following four streams: transit, green infrastructure, community, culture and recreation, and rural and northern communities.

Previously, the city had submitted applications totalling $980.4 million under the public transit and community, culture and recreation streams.