Advertisement

Ottawa mayor thanks Ontario premier, PM for ‘historic’ $4B coronavirus relief funding

Click to play video: 'Coronavirus: Ford announces Ontario to provide municipalities with $4B in funding'
Coronavirus: Ford announces Ontario to provide municipalities with $4B in funding
WATCH: Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on Monday that the Ontario government will be providing $4 billion in funding to municipalities as part of the COVID-19 relief deal from the federal government to the province, worth $19 billion – Jul 27, 2020

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson indicated Monday he’s pleased to see the federal and provincial governments teaming up to provide $4 billion in coronavirus relief to Ontario municipalities.

Watson has lobbied Ontario Premier Doug Ford as well as federal ministers for help in covering Ottawa’s projected $192-million budget deficit stemming from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Ford announced the relief funding Monday afternoon, with the province contributing $1.22 billion and the federal government providing $777 million.

Up to $2 billion in transit funding will be split equally between the provincial and federal governments.

There’s no word yet on how big a slice of the funding pie each municipality will receive, but Watson tweeted Monday afternoon that he was grateful for the governments’ “historic investment.”

Story continues below advertisement

 

Get expert insights, Q&A on markets, housing, inflation, and personal finance information delivered to you every Saturday.

Get weekly money news

Get expert insights, Q&A on markets, housing, inflation, and personal finance information delivered to you every Saturday.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

The City of Ottawa’s financial teams estimate the nation’s capital will see $241 million in revenue shortfalls tied to the pandemic’s impact on the local economy. Roughly half of that would stem from lower public transit revenues.

Taken together with any savings accrued from Ottawa’s pandemic shutdown, the city is projecting a $192-million deficit for 2020.

But under provincial legislation, municipalities are not permitted to run budget deficits by the end of the year.

City staff therefore came up with a plan last month that would see Ottawa dip into its tax reserves and cancel a number of planned capital projects to make up the difference.

Story continues below advertisement
Click to play video: 'Premier Ford announces $12B investment in Ontario schools'
Premier Ford announces $12B investment in Ontario schools

Watson cautioned at the time that these measures were “very much temporary, one-time solutions,” and that if the federal and provincial governments did not step in with additional emergency funds, the city would be forced to cut municipal services or raise taxes to unrealistic degrees.

Ottawa’s mayor worked with his counterparts at the Large Urban Mayors Caucus of Ontario (LUMCO) and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) to lobby the premier and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for additional funding.

AMO echoed Watson’s Twitter sentiments in a statement, with the association’s president, Jamie McGarvey, calling for a formula-based model for allocating funding.

“Today’s announcement reflects support for a broad array of costs, and it may call for multiple approaches to allocating the funding,” he said.

— With files from Canadian Press

Story continues below advertisement
Click to play video: 'Coronavirus an opportunity to make cities more equal and inclusive'
Coronavirus an opportunity to make cities more equal and inclusive

Sponsored content

AdChoices