The facility will draw on solar panels, increased thermal performance and efficient operating systems to realize an energy reduction of 45 percent, or about $12,500 annually.

The organizations say too many smaller and medium-sized infrastructure projects are being cut as municipalities struggle to balance their books due to the COVID pandemic. This, in turn, could force many heavy-civil and road building contractors to lay off staff.

The funding sees the purchase of new buses and associated equipment, with approximately $12 million available for construction and renovation works on a variety of transit facilities.

A project that helped to rehabilitate 2.3 kilometres of trunk sanitary sewers in Niagara Falls earned the 2020 Federal Gas Tax Award.

The awards pay tribute to those Ontario companies with fewer than 50 employees who have demonstrated strong leadership in the health and safety sector in the past year.