Infrastructure cash to flow to both big cities and small communities: Harper

GORMLEY, Ont. – Prime Minister Stephen Harper says a $14-billion infrastructure fund will help out both big cities and smaller communities alike.

The cash from the New Building Canada Fund will be doled out to provinces and municipalities over the next decade starting this spring.

Harper says the framework to distribute the money has now been completed.

Nearly $10 billion has been set aside for infrastructure and community projects in the provinces and territories — with $1 billion of that earmarked for communities with populations under 100,000.

Another $4 billion is set aside for projects of “national significance.”

Ottawa will contribute up to half the total cost of projects dealing with provincial highways and major roads as well as public transit, while pitching in one-third for others.

The infrastructure money was originally announced in the 2013 federal budget to succeed an earlier fund.

Harper and Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel were in Gormley, Ont., to make the announcement.