Province receives more than $150M for water-related upgrades

Municipalities across New Brunswick now have new access to federal funding to help pay for water-related upgrades.

The province announced Monday it's receiving $150.5 million from signing a 10-year agreement with the federal government under the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund.

This money will be used to build or upgrade storm water, wastewater, drinking water and solid-waste related infrastructure, which could in turn allow for more housing.

Municipalities can apply for access to this funding to allow them to make improvements in their communities. 

"We already have our application in," said Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold.

"I do think that a factor that needs to be considered is the return on the investment as well, and we will be able to deliver the homes that are needed. So I'm hoping that that will be considered," she said.

Arnold cited local projects, such as the Vision Lands development, improvements to St. George Street, and a conduit out of the Champlain School area over to Harrisville, that could all benefit from this money.

"We have a whole, you know, urban plan, we have our housing strategy, so we know specifically how many units we could build once we have these investments of infrastructure.

"I think it does set us up very well for success in applying for this money," she said.

Salisbury Mayor Rob Campbell, who also attended this announcement, said the funds could help his town plan long-term housing projects, as it provides an opportunity to replace the current well system with a municipal water system.

"We have the ability to build hundreds and hundreds of houses, right now water is the barrier."

He said this opens new opportunities for rural communities, and his town is already working on an application.

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A well system requires more land to build but if the community succeeds in getting a water system it could help increase housing density as well as bring down building costs.  

"It would be something that we definitely want to explore," he said.

Along with the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund, the province also announced five other projects that received more than $50 million from all three levels of government for wastewater and water-related infrastructure under a different program. 

Fredericton, Riverview, Rothesay, Fundy-St. Martins and Strait Shores received more $20 million from the province, about $30 million from the federal government, along with $10.9 million from the municipalities, according to the news release.