Ontario Construction News staff writer
Funding announced on the weekend will be used to expand and improve the Ma-te-Way Activity Centre in Renfrew.
The Government of Canada is investing over $6.4 million towards this project through the Community, Culture and Recreation Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada plan. The Government of Ontario is providing over $5.3 million, and the Town of Renfrew is contributing over $4.2 million.
“Today’s announcement for the Ma-te-Way Activity Centre in Renfrew ensures these community and recreational facilities are able to offer valued social and recreational programs for years to come, including a new Indigenous Cultural Centre and enhanced recreational facilities like an ice pad, walking track and fitness centre,” said Catherine McKenna, minister of infrastructure and communities.
The project includes expanding the current community arena and hall to include an Indigenous Cultural Centre, an additional ice pad, a walking track, fitness centre, gymnasium, and multipurpose rooms. This expansion will allow the Centre to improve access to cultural infrastructure and better meet community needs through enhanced recreational facilities.
Through the Investing in Canada plan, the federal government is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and Canada’s rural and northern communities.
Over the next 10 years, the Government of Ontario is investing approximately $320 million across the province, with the Government of Canada investing approximately $407 million, under the Community, Culture and Recreation Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.
“Our relationship with our Algonquin friends is a long-standing one, and so I’m pleased that today’s announcement also makes possible the creation of the Bonnechere Algonquin First Nation Indigenous Cultural Centre, which will nurture bi-cultural awareness through the sharing of traditions, customs, values, spirituality and the life-sustaining resources of the land,” said Renfrew Mayor Don Eady.
