The Alberta Government has a new grant that will help communities grow their infrastructure to help meet demand.
Minister of Municipal Affairs, Ric McIver, stated in a media conference on October 22 that they have heard from municipalities that they need some help to keep their infrastructure up with the demand placed on it due to the recent population growth the province has seen.
"That's why today we're launching the Local Growth and Sustainability Grant," McIver explained. "That will provide $60 million over three years to help some Alberta communities manage population growth pressures on public infrastructure."
Eligible projects under this grant program will address roads and bridges, drinking water, storm water, solid waste management, wastewater, public transit, public safety and security, and disaster mitigation and resilience.
This grant is on top of the existing infrastructure programs, such as the Local Government Fiscal Framework (LGFF).
Just like the LGFF, the LGSG is an application-based program that's open to any municipality who is experiencing significant growth and related infrastructure pressures.
There are two components under this grant program.
They are the growth component and the sustainability component.
The growth component accounts for roughly $15 million of the $20 million attributed to the program this year and is meant to help mid-sized communities that have a population between 10,000 and 200,000 deal with their growth-related infrastructure needs.
Projects under this category are cost-shared, and the local governments applying for the grant has to cover at least 50 per cent of the projects total cost.
With that, though, communities are able to apply to other provincial grants, such as the Local Government Fiscal Framework Capital program, to receive funding to cover an additional 30 per cent of the cost of the project.
The sustainability component, which will make up roughly $5 million will go towards communities with a population fewer than 10,000 residents and help them deal with pressing health and safety issues, such as water treatment.
For projects to be considered eligible for funding, they need to have a minimum cost of $1 million.
Applications for this grant are currently open and will close on November 29.
This program does have a single intake window, with the payments being made over 3 years.
To learn more about the program and how to apply, click here.