Applications Open for Ontario's Connecting Links Program
$25-Million Part of Largest Infrastructure Investment in Province’s History
June 27, 2016 1:30 P.M.
Ontario is accepting applications for the next intake for the Connecting Links program for projects starting in spring 2017.
Connecting links are municipal roads or bridges that connect two ends of a provincial highway through a community, or to a border crossing.
The program was introduced last year to help municipalities repair their roadways and bridges. The province provided $20 million in 2016-17 to support 23 Connecting Link projects across Ontario. Funding for the Connecting Links program will increase to $25 million in 2017-18 and $30 million in the 2018-19 period and the following years.
Ontario is making the largest investment in public infrastructure in the province's history -- about $160 billion over 12 years for projects such as roads, bridges, transit systems, schools and hospitals. This investment is supporting 110,000 jobs every year across the province. In 2015, the government announced support for more than 325 projects that will keep people and goods moving, connect communities and improve quality of life.
Investing in Connecting Links is part of the government's economic plan to build Ontario up and deliver on its number-one priority to grow the economy and create jobs. The four-part plan includes helping more people get and create the jobs of the future by expanding access to high-quality college and university education. The plan is making the largest infrastructure investment in hospitals, schools, roads, bridges and transit in Ontario's history and is investing in a low-carbon economy driven by innovative, high-growth, export-oriented businesses. The plan is also helping working Ontarians achieve a more secure retirement.
QUOTES
" Our Connecting Links program is one way we show our long-term commitment to Ontario’s rural and northern communities and to the families who live there. These highways are essential links in many communities, connecting people to jobs, managing local congestion and improving the economy and residents’ quality of life."
- Steven Del Duca
Minister of Transportation
QUICK FACTS
- Applications are due on October 21, 2016. Funding for the selected connecting link projects will begin in the spring of 2017.
- There are about 350 kilometres of roads and 70 bridges along connecting links in 77 municipalities across Ontario.
- Connecting Links funding covers up to 90 per cent of eligible project costs, to a maximum of $3 million. The eligible costs are for the design, construction, renewal, rehabilitation and replacement of connecting link infrastructure.
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