Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on October 28 that the province will provide $1.05 billion in funding to build or renovate health- and safety-related projects in long-term care, education and municipalities.

The money is being allocated through the province’s new COVID-19 Resilience infrastructure stream, and includes funding from the federal government's Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.

"Getting shovels in the ground on new infrastructure projects across the province will be a critical component of our path to long-term economic recovery," said Premier Ford. "Not only will this investment help communities build the necessary infrastructure to keep Ontarians safe and healthy, but these projects will create hundreds of local construction jobs and support local businesses and suppliers. It's a win-win for the home team."

Eligible projects under the COVID-19 Resilience stream will fall under four main categories:

• community, recreation, health and education renovations, such as retrofits, repairs or upgrades to long-term care homes, public schools and co-located childcare centre facilities, recreation centres or shelters,
• COVID-19 response infrastructure such as heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, new builds or renovations to enable physical distancing;
• active transportation projects; and
• disaster mitigation, adaptation or remediation projects.

"Ontario recognizes the flexibility the new COVID-19 Resilience stream will provide to communities and organizations," said Infrastructure Minister Laurie Scott. "We're making it possible for communities to get shovel-ready projects underway sooner so they can kick-start their local economies."

The COVID-19 Resilience stream will deliver:

• up to $700 million for education-related projects,
• an allocation-based program that will deliver $250 million to municipalities to address critical local infrastructure needs, including $6.5 million for Indigenous and on-reserve education, and
• up to $100 million for long-term care projects.

Eligible projects must begin by September 30, 2021 and be completed by December 31, 2021.

Public infrastructure projects funded under the COVID-19 Resilience stream will be 80 percent cost-shared by the federal government and 20 percent cost-shared by the province.