Prime Minister Mark Carney and B.C. Premier David Eby unveiled a 10-year infrastructure partnership that will direct more than $5 billion toward local infrastructure across the province with a focus on housing, health care, and transit.
The Government of Canada will invest nearly $1.6 billion over 10 years through the Build Communities Strong Fund, matched by B.C. for a combined $3.2 billion, to reduce development charges for multi-unit housing by up to 50 per cent in priority communities. The initiative aims to save up to $40,000 per unit and expand housing-enabling infrastructure including water systems, wastewater systems, and local roads.
An additional $600 million from Ottawa over three years, matched by the province for a total of $1.2 billion, will modernize and expand health infrastructure such as hospitals, emergency rooms, and urgent care centres.
The federal government will provide a one-time transfer of $284 million to British Columbia to reduce barriers to new construction through recently introduced legislation.
The two governments will also launch the Canada-British Columbia Partnership on Condo Conversion, leveraging innovative financing tools to convert more than 2,200 vacant condo units in priority growth areas into affordable homes. The initiative will operate through Build Canada Homes and BC Housing.
Through the Canada Public Transit Fund, the federal government will invest $2.5 billion over 10 years to build new transit projects, including the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension currently underway, and increase service access and frequency in high-traffic areas. This funding supplements the $852 million previously announced to support TransLink and BC Transit.
Canada and B.C. are also partnering to build new infrastructure for the community of Tumbler Ridge, including a new secondary school and renovations to the local health centre. The federal government and the provincial government will each provide $100 million for construction, which is expected to begin as early as this summer – starting with the removal of the existing school.
