Thank you, Minister.
The federal gas tax fund, which is a fairly flexible program, includes 18 different project categories to invest in infrastructure needed by municipalities.
Municipalities can save it. It's something small municipalities appreciate. If there is a larger piece of infrastructure they'd like to invest in, they can save the infrastructure money from the gas tax one year and do that larger project the following year. It is an area that gets [Technical difficulty—Editor] the challenges you've mentioned.
The money does not return to the consolidated revenue fund. It is a transfer payment to the provinces and territories, which in turn flow that money to the municipalities based on the agreement we put in place with them in 2004. It is quite flexible, with 18 different categories of investment. From roads to bridges to water and sewer to broadband connectivity, there is a wide range of opportunities that municipalities can use. They determine the pace of investment. They determine, based on those 18 categories, what they want to invest in. Also, it pays 100%. There's no need to cost-share, and that's really important as well.
As the minister noted, normally in previous years—