Finance Minister Bill Morneau and the Trudeau government have brought forward a Budget that aligns with many of the priorities of the city of Mississauga from an infrastructure, transit, housing, and economic development perspective.
“Mississauga is working to build a competitive city and local economy and we’re pleased to have a federal partner committed to helping us do this,” said Mayor Crombie.
The Federal government’s commitment to gender equity will go a long way to supporting local women and the growth of local businesses, and sends a strong signal that more women in the workforce is good for the Canadian economy.
“When you empower women in a meaningful way, you change society for the better,” said Mayor Crombie.
In particular, the federal Budget aligns with many of the City of Mississauga’s priorities, including:
- Ongoing commitment to public transit through Phase 2 of the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund. Mississauga continues to work as a partner with the Federal government to design the program requirements to get the money flowing quickly.
- A renewed commitment to indexing the Federal Gas Tax Fund to increase 2 per cent per year. Mississauga received $18 million in 2017, the majority of which was invested in our transit system. Consistent, dedicated and sustainable long-term funding for transit is essential to allowing Mississauga to build our transit system.
- $231 million to tackle the opioid crisis, an issue that the Region of Peel is currently preparing for.
- An additional $1.25 billion over three years to incentivize the building of 14,000 affordable rental housing units, to address housing affordability issues in communities like Mississauga. This aligns with Mississauga’s “Making Room for the Middle” affordable housing strategy.
- $1.7 billion to support Canada’s granting councils and research institutes. These investments will help world-leading researchers like Dr. Patrick Gunning at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) for his research at the Centre for Medicinal Chemistry. Mississauga is a hub of innovation, home to the country’s 2nd largest life sciences sector and the only city with a Life Sciences Strategy.
- $1.4 billion for the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy to finance women entrepreneurs, as well as training. Women are economic drivers and these supports will help encourage more women to start new businesses, create jobs, and grow our local economy.
“The City of Mississauga continues to work with the federal government and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) on designing Phase 2 of the Federal Infrastructure Fund,” said Mayor Crombie.
The federal government has committed $181 billion over 10 years for infrastructure, including public transit, housing, and green infrastructure.
“Municipalities continue to work with the federal government to ensure these funds start flowing as soon as possible and are spent where they will have the greatest benefit for residents,” said Mayor Crombie.
“While the federal government affirmed its commitment to the National Housing Strategy (NHS), there was no short term commitment of funding for much-needed repairs to existing social housing stock in our communities – something cities have been asking for. We will continue to press the government to move quickly on the NHS to get money flowing quickly, to allow cities to repair and maintain our existing housing stock, as well as build new units.”
