(Ottawa) Quebec will finally be able to obtain the approximately $2.7 billion earmarked for it under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) and which risked remaining in Ottawa’s coffers if they were not were not spent until March 31.
Negotiations over the past few weeks have found common ground between the Legault government and the Trudeau government, according to information obtained by La Presse.
A large part of the $2.7 billion will be used for “structuring” projects in Quebec, namely the extension of the blue line of the Montreal metro, and the project to build a tramway in Quebec.
It is from the PIIC that Ottawa has already contributed to the financing of these two public transit projects as well as the extension of Highway 19 between Highways 440 in Laval and 640 in Bois-des-Filion.
In the case of the extension of the blue line of the subway, the funds from Ottawa will make it possible to absorb part of the increase in the costs of this project, now valued at some 6.4 billion dollars.
Other less expensive projects will also be included in the list agreed by Ottawa and Quebec following talks held between the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Dominic LeBlanc and the Minister responsible for Infrastructure, Jonatan Julien.
“The lion’s share of the funds will be used to finance two major projects, the blue metro line in Montreal and the tramway. There will be other small projects that will also be funded elsewhere in Quebec. The list will be announced shortly,” said a government source familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Minister LeBlanc and his colleague from Quebec confirmed the conclusion of this agreement on Twitter on Monday.
” Good news. We have reached an agreement in principle with the Government of Quebec to renew the Integrated Bilateral Agreement on Infrastructure Funding. Dozens of communities across Quebec will benefit from this collaboration,” Minister LeBlanc said on his Twitter account.
“Minister Dominic LeBlanc and I have reached an agreement for Quebec to use the remaining $2.7 billion. The flexibility obtained from the federal government is great progress for future agreements. Thank you Dominic, for your openness,” commented Minister Julien.
In all, the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP), had a budget of $33.5 billion and was scheduled to end on March 31, 2025. But Ottawa notified all provinces last year. last that it was advancing the deadline to March 31, 2023 and that the amounts that would not have been spent on projects in the provinces would remain in its coffers.
Result: Quebec risked losing approximately 2.7 billion that was still in its envelope, the equivalent of 37% of the sums promised by the federal government.
This deadline was considered too tight by the Legault government as well as by the Union of Quebec Municipalities. The Quebec government then urged Ottawa to reverse its “unilateral” decision to bring forward the deadline for using the funds by two years.
