I'll start by saying that while I understand the most obvious metric for the Parliamentary Budget Officer is federal cash flow, it's maybe not the best metric for the impact of the program. This is because the dollars flow once receipts are given to the federal government. We have to spend the money first, which is what we're actively doing right now. When projects are complete then we'll remit to Ottawa the appropriate paperwork, and then the dollars will flow. At that point, they will register as having had effect, as far as the federal government is concerned.
However, in our own case what we've been able to do is make assumptions about those dollars flowing, particularly the transit dollars because they come through an allocation-based mechanism. The more certainty we have about dollars flowing our way, the more we're able to proceed with investments. We've been able to green-light planning dollars in the first phase—which we're doing right now, and we will bill the federal government for it—knowing that we will have construction dollars moving in the second phase.
Where the programs are more application based, there's more uncertainty. That's where we continue to advocate for more allocation-based mechanisms, because those will give municipalities the certainty to spend with the knowledge of recovery, rather than have to apply before a project can commence.
So where allocation has happened, the results have created stimulus by imbuing us with confidence to move ahead with projects.