Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Good morning to you and to all the honourable members.
Today I am joining you from near the Bow River. I am in Calgary, Alberta, which is Treaty 7 territory, traditional land of the Niitsitapi and, of course, part of the Métis homeland.
The phase-out of coal-fired power production has had a fairly high impact in Saskatchewan and Alberta. We are, in that context, working quite hard to support the affected communities and the people who live in those communities and rely on it. Our goal is that people and the places they live in not be left behind as Canada moves to a net-zero economy.
We believe strongly in the concept of “nothing about us without us”. That's why PrairiesCan staff have spent countless hours at community meetings, municipal and band council meetings, worker transition meetings and events, and talking one on one with community leaders, businesses and workers. This people-centric approach puts workers and communities at the centre of our policy and decision-making on climate change action. That just makes sense. It makes sense to listen to the people who are affected by all of this.
PrairiesCan is delivering $25 million under the coal transition initiative and $105 million under the related infrastructure fund. That is a total of $130 million. PrairiesCan has invested about half of that amount so far. We have funded 52 projects, valued at almost $61 million in 17 coal-affected communities. These are proud towns like Coronach and Bienfait, Saskatchewan, which are working hard to keep families in those communities.
These are not simple projects. Transition centres in places like the two that we set up in Castor, Alberta, are offering training programs and business development opportunities for laid-off workers, and 2,400 people have attended programs like these across coal country. To put that in perspective, we're looking at about 2,800 affected workers. It is a measure of new hope because we know it can be difficult to create and find new jobs in communities that have relied on one high-paying industry.
That's why our funding is also helping rural municipalities in places like Parkland County, Alberta, to align their land-use services and create infrastructure to attract investors and other businesses with new possibilities to make up for their missing tax bases.
This isn't the federal government acting alone. We have partners. These projects involve a wide array of proponents, including municipalities, unions, Community Futures and other local development organizations. All are working to help communities to survive and prosper.
The just transition task force recommended we create flexible funding for communities. That has been our focus. We now have a clearer picture of what communities want to do. It only makes sense to also become more clear on how we measure performance in the future. We thank the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development for this and other recommendations.
I appreciate that the commissioner acknowledged our work to engage local communities. Our aim has been that the people and communities impacted by the phase-out have access to the programming they need. It's really that simple.
Mr. Chair, through you to the committee members, I say that the intentions of these programs are important and good: to support people affected by the move away from coal, to be fair, to be compassionate and to be hopeful.
This is a work in progress. We have more to do. The team at PrairiesCan has been working hard to engage communities. Ultimately, though, it will be the hard work, courage and innovation of the people in these communities that will determine their futures. We need to be there. We need to listen to them. We need to be flexible, and we need to help how we can. I am proud that we have a good start on that.
Thank you.