WINDSOR, Ont.—Premier Kathleen Wynne kicked off the 2016 annual conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario by announcing the province will start taking applications from cities and towns in September for federal funding for transit upgrades and water system repairs.

The province, however, is still without a funding deal with the federal government, from whom the money will come. An agreement is needed for the hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to flow.

“Negotiations are going well and that’s important,” Wynne said Monday while onstage at the AMO conference in Windsor. “We’re all eager to announce a deal and get shovels in the ground.”

Premier Kathleen Wynne addresses the 2016 annual conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. (QP Briefing/Geoff Zochodne)

Premier Kathleen Wynne addresses the 2016 annual conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. (QP Briefing/Geoff Zochodne)

Wynne told reporters later that a funding deal with Ottawa is "very, very close," but that she wanted to put mayors and other municipal officials at ease.

"They wanted to make sure that the announcement was coming soon so that there won't be a delay and they won't miss the opportunity to get those projects funded," Wynne said.

Wynne added that the reason for the delay was because the provincial government is already promising to spend $160 billion of its own cash on infrastructure over the next 12 years. With the federal government now throwing money around, the premier said there's a need to get the funds to "mesh."

The premier was speaking at AMO's 2016 annual conference. AMO represents Ontario's 444 municipalities, many of which are finding it difficult to find money for their own infrastructure investments.

"There's always challenges," said outgoing AMO president Gary McNamara. "As you've just heard, the funding agreement is in progress, and we want to make sure they get it right."

McNamara said the federal funding is for repair and rehabilitation projects that can be done in about two years.

"Madam Premier, Mr. Prime Minister, we want to get started," added McNamara.

Wynne said Ontario would start the intake process in early September, allowing municipalities to apply for the first phase of Ottawa’s Public Transit Infrastructure Fund and the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund. A press release said the province will use the process to determine which municipal and First Nations projects would be funded.

The Trudeau government’s public transit fund will pick up to 50 per cent of the cost of an eligible municipal project, such as buying new subway cars in Toronto. According to this year’s federal budget, Ontario’s cut of that transit funding is nearly $1.5 billion over three years.

The four-year, $2-billion Clean Water and Wastewater Fund is for provinces and municipalities. It will likewise pay for up to 50 per cent of eligible costs of a water distribution and treatment infrastructure project. Ontario is entitled to more than $560 million over the next two years, a release said.

Wynne said the provincial government will use a formula similar to that of the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF) to “fairly” spread the money around. The OCIF is a $100-million annual fund for local infrastructure projects, which is being tripled to $300 million per year by 2018-19.

The provincial government also says it will let municipalities pair their OCIF grants with the federally funded projects, and that Ontario will consider offering more support beyond the community infrastructure funding.

Wynne also said the province is considering paying for up to 25 per cent of eligible costs for projects approved under the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund.

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AMO 2016: Ontario cities to apply for feds’ infrastructure cash in September – sans funding deal

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