06/20/2026
Sooke can’t wait. We need real transit, an urgent care centre, and infrastructure that keeps up with our growth. It’s time to build stronger ties with the federal and provincial governments and get this done.
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Ottawa and the province are setting up a $5-billion fund that municipalities can tap into to pay for transit, hospital and infrastructure upgrades needed to keep up with growing communities.
“Canada and B.C. have mad a major landmark agreement to help build more homes, bring down housing costs and modernize infrastructure across the province,” said Prime Minister Mark Carney from Vancouver Thursday.
Ottawa will be investing alone:
$2.5 billion over 10 years for transit projects
$284 million to B.C. “to reduce barriers to new construction”
$50 million over 5 years for infrastructure projects
Ottawa and B.C. will be splitting equally:
$3.2 billion over 10 years to lower development charges for multi-unit housing
$1.2 billion over 3 years to upgrade hospitals/ER/urgent care centres
Both B.C. and Ottawa also pledged to convert condos sitting vacant, mainly in Vancouver, into affordable homes through “innovative financing tools”.
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Unclear how and who money will be awarded to
Details on how, and who, the money will be handed out to at this point are vague.
“The numbers are large and the thresholds are also a little bit unclear yet. I’ll be working very closely with our Member of Parliament to understand the details,” said Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto.
“I would hope that, given we’re the capital city of British Columbia and we’ve been stellar in our ability to create affordability housing and housing in general, that we’d be top of the pile, but we don’t know that yet.”
Some of the dollars, designed to replace developer fees, will be dolled out “in priority communities”.
The lack of clarity has some mayors skeptical.
“When it actually comes to accessing these funds there’s always some big roadblock,” said Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley.
Can the province even pay?
Other mayors are concerned the province might not actually be able to pony up and match what the federal government can.
“We’ve seen in this most recent budget pause a lot of the capital funds that local governments in particular rely on, as [the provincial] government tries to reconcile its budget and deficit,” said Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock.
“This is going to involve turning on the taps again.”
Murdock wonders how and where the province is going to come up with the money.
Will this actually help with affordability?
Murdock also has questions on how the subsidy of developer fees will translate into savings not just for developers, but for buyers.
“That will certainly be the devil will be in the details. We’ll have to see how that is actually formulated,” said Murdock.
161 municipalities to jostle for funding
Other municipalities, like North Cowichan, hope they’re not lost in the fray, as B.C.’s 161 municipalities now begin to vie for funding.
“We’re hopeful we’re going to access some of this funding,” said Rob Douglas, North Cowichan mayor, who says his community is struggling to update sewage and water infrastructure alongside population growth.
He worries larger urban centres will secure the bulk of the funds.
