Breadcrumb Trail Links
Program was among the keystone policies laid out in the 2025 federal budget
Published Apr 07, 2026 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 3 minute read
You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.
Prime Minister Mark Carney takes part in an announcement about the governments nature conservation strategy at Le Belvedere in Wakefield, Quebec March 31, 2026. Photo by Blair Gable/Postmedia Photo by Blair Gable /Photo by Blair Gable / PostmediaArticle content
OTTAWA — A little over five months after it was announced, Canada has officially launched its massive $51-billion infrastructure initiative.
Advertisement 2
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.
SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.
REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.
THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authors
Article content
Originally introduced in November during the 2025 budget, the Build Communities Strong Fund is described by the government as a decade-long “generational investment” that the government hopes will offer relief to Canada’s affordable housing crisis and modernize civic infrastructure.
Article content
Article content
“That means building hospitals in our communities,” Carney said during a Tuesday morning news conference at Century Gardens recreation centre in Brampton, where the city is constructing a youth club on the site of the centre’s now-demolished lawn bowling green.
“It means building new rapid transit that reduces traffic and cuts the commute home in half and it means community centres, like Century Gardens, where kids can play safely on the weekend.”
Fund will be split into three streams
The $51-billion Build Communities Strong Fund will be divided into three streams — a $27.8-billion community stream meant for essential civic infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, community centres and underground utilities; $17.2-billion bilaterally funded provincial/territorial stream meant to build hospitals, housing infrastructure and post-secondary schools; and the $6-billion direct-delivery stream meant for regional projects and large-scale retrofits of existing structures.
Your Midday Sun
Thanks for signing up!
Article content
Advertisement 3
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“We’re partnering with provinces, territories and municipalities to build local infrastructure,” Carney said on Tuesday morning.
Last week, Carney joined Ontario Premier Doug Ford to announce the first project under the provincial/territorial stream that will cut development charges in half and eliminate the 13% HST from new home purchases.
“To combine those lower taxes and lower fees, that’s up to $200,000 off a new home right here in Brampton.”
Participation in the provincial/territorial stream will require provinces or territories to commit to reducing onerous development charges — a key barrier in home affordability that can significantly add to the price of a new home.
The Build Communities Strong Fund will also make heavy use of Canada’s new “Buy Canadian” procurement policy, meant to ensure public money is kept within Canada instead of buying supplies, materials or equipment from the United States — a program identified last week by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as a major “trade irritant.”
Advertisement 4
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Ontario is set to receive the lion’s share of funding via the provincial streams at $6 billion, followed by $3.6 billion for Quebec, $1.9 billion for Alberta, $698 million for Manitoba, $610 million for Saskatchewan, $542 million for Nova Scotia, $461 million for New Brunswick, $352 million for Newfoundland, $204 million for P.E.I., $156 million each for Northwest Territories and Yukon and $155 million for Nunavut.
Read More
Budget more than doubles deficit, includes big spend on infrastructure
Ontario, feds spending $8.8 billion to cut development charges
First set of 13 projects announced
Tuesday also saw the release of the first series of 13 projects funded under the program, with the 16,000-sq.-m Embleton Community Centre in southwestern Brampton taking centre stage — built thanks to a $64-million investment from the fund as the only Ontario project on the roster.
Other projects include street redevelopment in Laval, Que.., a new water-treatment plant in Hay River, N.W.T., infrastructure to support new housing in Iqaluit, Nunavut, and water utility work in St. Albert, Alta.
Advertisement 5
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown praised the announcement, describing the announcement as a big step up for Brampton and other cities.
“We’re building for today, but more importantly, we’re building for the future and we’re doing it together,” he said.
Less announcements, more action
Conservative transport critic Dan Albas dismissed Carney’s announcement as little more than a re-announcement rather than a plan to deliver results.
“What the Carney Liberals have delivered is an unaffordable Canada: The highest food inflation in the G7, the only shrinking economy in the G7, the highest job losses outside of the pandemic since the Great Recession and the second highest unemployment in the G7,” he said.
“The Liberal government is making up for the fact that after a decade of Liberal policies they have made our communities less safe and our health care less accessible. And while the Carney Liberals promised to build more homes, his own housing agency says homebuilding is collapsing and this reannouncement will build no new homes.”
Albas said if the Liberals were really interested in catalyzing development, they’d bring an end end the real barriers of prosperity — anti-development laws and unaffordable taxes.
“Canadians don’t need to see PM Carney at a podium, they need to see results,” he said.
Article content
Share this article in your social network