Ontario Construction News staff writer
The Town of Middlesex Centre is receiving $2.1 million from Ontario’s Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF) in 2022.
Funding will be used for tar and chip resurfacing ($600,000) and asphalt resurfacing ($1.1 million) of local roads. The remaining funds will be held in reserve for infrastructure projects in 2023.
“We are so pleased to receive this investment from the OCIF,” said Mayor Aina DeViet. “These funds will support much needed improvements to our local road infrastructure, ensuring that the Municipality continues to be a good steward of our shared community assets.”
Middlesex Centre’s funding is part of $22 million from the OCIF that is going to help 14 municipalities across Lambton-Kent-Middlesex this year.
“Across the province, small and rural towns are on the comeback, helping drive economic growth,” said Minister McNaughton in the announcement. “As more people look to the benefits of small-town living, this investment will bring thousands of new jobs to the region and ensure we have the services needed to support our residents.”
The OCIF is a multi-year program to support local infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, and water, wastewater and stormwater facilities in communities with populations under 100,000, along with rural and northern communities.
“Communities are the heartbeat of this province and we know they are facing unique infrastructure needs and challenges, especially as we navigate through the pandemic,” said Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure. “Our government has been with them every step of the way. When we were told more funding supports were needed, we listened and acted in a meaningful way by providing the largest OCIF increase since the start of the program. By doing so, we’re providing stability and predictability to small, rural and northern communities to repair, upgrade, and modernize their critical infrastructure so that they are safer, healthier, and more reliable for all.”
The Province’s investment in OCIF is part of the 2021 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review: Build Ontario. The plan lays out how the government will build Ontario’s future with shovels in the ground for highways, hospitals, long-term care, housing, and high-speed internet. To ensure all families, workers and businesses in the province have a better and brighter future, our government’s planned infrastructure investments over the next decade total more than $148 billion.
