The Ontario government announced on November 17 that it has made $250 million available to municipalities that want to fund local infrastructure projects.

The money will allow local governments to proceed with tendering and procurement as soon as possible.

Projects eligible for the money include infrastructure to support physical distancing, social infrastructure, active transportation and disaster mitigation projects.

Each municipality is allocated at least $100,000 in funding. Successful projects will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis and be nominated by the province to the federal government for approval by March 2021.

"This investment in local infrastructure will help communities keep Ontarians safe and healthy while creating good local jobs and supporting local businesses," said Infrastructure Minister Laurie Scott. "We are moving fast to respond to the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Our government will continue to ensure that communities are able to get shovel-ready projects underway so they can kickstart their local economies and create jobs."

On October 28, the province announced up to $1.05 billion in federal-provincial funding through the COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure stream under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. The money can be used to build or renovate health and safety-related projects in long-term care, education and municipalities sectors.

"We look forward to collaborating with the federal government to secure quick approvals for these important projects that will help keep communities across Ontario safe," said Scott.

The deadline for applying for the funding for municipalities submitting single projects is December 21. For those submitting multiple projects, the deadline is extended to January 7, 2021.

In addition to nearly $250 million allocated to municipalities under the Local Government sub-stream, up to $700 million will be directed to education-related projects nominated by the Ministry of Education, and up to $100 million for long-term care projects nominated by the Ministry of Long-Term Care. Those ministries are working directly with their respective sectors to nominate projects.