As P.E.I. faces funding drop, road builders and provincial officials urge Ottawa to keep cash flowing
'We need to increase the amount of money' given growing population, builder says
Road builders on Prince Edward Island are urging the federal government to keep infrastructure cash flowing into the province, with a deal to fund major road projects approaching its end date.
P.E.I.'s latest funding agreement with Ottawa includes roughly $200 million over a 10-year period from the federal government's Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program and New Building Canada Fund.
That funding is set to end in the next two to three years, and no replacement fund has been set up yet to give reassurance to long-term planners.
Mike Annear, with Kings County Construction and the P.E.I. Road Builders Association, says that's startling to workers in the industry — given that the money is being used to meet the province's growing demand for major road projects.
The province needs those federal dollars.— Mike Annear
"It can be devastating to our industry, and actually to the Island. We'd like to see the budget increase. It's starting to increase in some of the other provinces; we need it to increase to catch up with the growth," he said.
"If you start adding all these housing [projects] and these people, we need to increase the amount of money that's going back into our infrastructure. So the province needs those federal dollars."
P.E.I. must secure long-term funding, minister says
Last week, transportation ministers from across the country met in Quebec with many topics on the agenda — including federal funding.
"My provincial and territorial colleagues and I were able to share our concerns with the federal government with regard to transportation infrastructure funding, notably roads," Québec's minister of transport, Geneviève Guilbault, said in a release.
P.E.I.'s minister of transportation, Ernie Hudson, told CBC News Wednesday that the increase in the province's population has put extra strain on road infrastructure.
He said that gives this province, and others across the country, more leverage to negotiate a new long-term agreement with Ottawa.
"I don't know that I'd say it leaves us on shaky ground. I think what it does is… it gives us even more rationale… to be able to continue to pressure the federal government," Hudson said. "We fully expect them to step up to the plate and continue to be a great partner."
Hudson said the federal transport minister, Anita Anand, has pledged to take the provinces' funding concerns to the Liberal cabinet.
In the province's fall 2024 capital budget, the P.E.I. government estimated it would spend more than $67 million on paving, roads, bridges and more in the next fiscal year.
Stephen Yeo, the province's chief engineer, said if no new federal funding comes through, the timeline of some major projects may need to be extended — and that only adds to their cost.
"Looking ahead, that's going to be a problem. We have some big projects coming up with no funding partner, so that's going to extend out the time for how long it's going to take for these to be completed," Yeo said.
"Certainly you need to invest a lot of capital money every year to keep the roads where they are today, and the bridges up to good quality. So it's a major concern, not seeing a long-term funding program ahead."
Annear says federal funding is critical to keeping Island roads cared for and creating new roads as P.E.I.'s population grows. Without that commitment, he said it's hard for businesses to plan for the future.
"Everything that's going on today, it makes me uneasy," he said.
"It's great to see the province, you know, screaming that 'We need another program, we need more federal dollars.' Because we need to build it, not reduce it."
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