Transport Committee on Nov. 19th, 2020

[Kelly Gillis]

I'll re-reference these, but in looking at the infrastructure hub on Statistics Canada, public sector infrastructure increased 19.5%. from $51.9 billion to $62.04 billion in 2009, while private sector infrastructure investments stayed relatively steady at 4.5%. Public sector infrastructure has significantly increased since 2015.

That is on their infrastructure hub. I'd be happy to provide the committee with the source of information for those particular metrics.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Ms. Gillis.

[Gerald Soroka, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

I would like to see that.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. Soroka.

We'll now move to Mr. Fillmore.

Mr. Fillmore, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

Thanks very much for that.

Thank you, Deputy Minister.

I wonder if we could talk a little bit about the larger transit projects that we're seeing in the country. You mentioned the elevated levels of oversight required for projects with a benchmark over $100 million, is that right?

[Kelly Gillis]

Correct. It's $100 million right now until the end of 2021, but previously it was $50 million. After the end of 2021, we will go back down to $50 million, where a Treasury Board submission will be required.

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

Okay.

You know, I'm going to change my mind here. Given what's happening across the country right now with surging COVID numbers, I think folks might be more interested in hearing about the new COVID stream and how that is rolling out. Could you just talk about the details of the funding allotments that were created for that and what kind of early uptake you might be seeing from provinces? What kind of criteria is there for those projects?

[Kelly Gillis]

The COVID stream was created to be able to adjust our programming to be relevant to living in the times we are right now with COVID. Provinces and territories have the option, but do not have to avail themselves of this opportunity, to transfer up to 10% of their original allocation into this particular stream. Just over $3 billion could be available across the country for this.

Because of the hard times we're living in right now, the government has decided to pay 80 cents on the dollar. So we'll pay 80% of the projects. For indigenous communities and indigenous recipients, we'll pay 100% of the projects.

It is time limited. It's in place until the end of 2021. It's for projects to a maximum eligible project cost of $10 million, a lower value so they can be done in a shorter time frame. The categories for them are retrofits, rehabilitation of provincial, territorial and municipal buildings, including as I mentioned before, opening up to types of infrastructure like education, long-term care facilities, hospitals that are needed right now.

Another category is pandemic resilience, so allowing for infrastructure investments and capital investment to allow for social distancing and safe use of buildings.

With regard to active transportation, we know that investing in active transportation is really important right now, as well as mitigation and adaptation. That is also quite important, as we're seeing the severity of weather.

Those are the types of categories that are in place for this particular stream.

At this point in time, we have a number of provinces and territories that have availed themselves of it, but not all. We have Alberta, which has availed themselves of it, and Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, P.E.I., Newfoundland, Nunavut and Ontario. They are in the process of transferring funds over into this stream and will be submitting projects.

It is actually happening right now. Provinces are deciding whether they would like a take-up of this and then how much they would like to transfer in.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Ms. Gillis. Thank you, Mr. Fillmore.

I'm now going to move on to Mr. El-Khoury.

Mr. El-Khoury, the floor is yours.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Of course, in recent years, we've seen major climate changes, which are leading to extreme weather events. I think people need to feel protected and safe, especially when the forces of nature hit us.

[Gerald Soroka, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Chair, on a point of order, we're hearing the translation and the voice at the exact same level and we can't hear either one.

Is Mr. El-Khoury on the same speaking channel?

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. Soroka.

Mr. El-Khoury, could you put it on—

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

I'm on the French channel, so it should work properly now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

We know that with the increase in extreme weather events, we need to ensure that our communities are resilient.

Can you tell us about the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund and how this program is helping to protect critical infrastructure?

[Kelly Gillis]

Thank you for your question.

This is a major $2 billion program. We've announced 59 projects totalling about $1.7 billion, and two-thirds of those projects are flood-related. These are major events that affect communities. This type of program is designed to make investments up front to reduce the risk of future disasters resulting from the magnitude of climate change. It's an important program.

In addition, in the COVID-19 resilience stream, which I just mentioned, there is mention of the types of projects that are eligible. They must not exceed $10 million in value. And in our green component, these types of projects are also eligible. So there are different ways to support these types of projects to reduce the risk to Canadians.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you.

We know very well that infrastructure is the most powerful engine for growing the economy and creating jobs.

This government, I presume, has set a record for infrastructure investment across the country. This government has made unprecedented investments in our communities and across the country, creating good jobs for Canadians.

Could you talk about the number of projects that have been approved under the investing in Canada infrastructure program, or ICIP, and the types of infrastructure that have been built, particularly as a result of that program?

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. El-Khoury.

Give a quick answer please, Ms. Gillis.

[Kelly Gillis]

Thank you for the question.

In all components, we've approved almost 1,300 projects.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Ms. Gillis, could you repeat that?

[Kelly Gillis]

Among the announcements that have been made recently is a new Ronald McDonald House in Halifax. It was a $4 million investment in the community to build a facility to care for families with sick children. It's an important investment in taking care of Canadians in their community.

We have another solar energy storage project in Prince Edward Island, with a $26.3 million investment that will include the construction of a 21-megawatt battery power storage facility for the community.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Ms. Gillis and Mr. El-Khoury.

We're now going to move on to Mr. Barsalou-Duval for two and a half minutes.

Mr. Barsalou-Duval, you have the floor.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My question is for Ms. Gillis.

I know your government—the federal government certainly—often says that the environment is important to them. There are investment programs for charging stations, for instance, that come out of Infrastructure Canada, if I'm not mistaken.

Would it be possible to obtain data on the total envelope, its distribution and the number of applications by province, for example? You'll find that comes up a lot, but I'm particularly interested in the province of Quebec. I don't know if you have this data and if you're able to provide it to us.

[Kelly Gillis]

The data available to me doesn't exactly relate to charging station projects, but I can look for the information.

However, you'll find on our website a map showing all investment projects, which are listed by infrastructure. You'll find a description of all our Quebec projects in our green section. You can see, for example, whether a type of project is important for communities and for the province. It's available everywhere.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Okay. Thank you.

It also includes cost-related information, not just the nature of the project, right?