December 18, 2020

Safe Restart Agreement supports municipalities in the riding of Sault Ste. Marie

Office of Terry Sheehan

Member of Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie

Press Release

Safe Restart Agreement supports municipalities in the riding of

Sault Ste. Marie

For immediate release

December 18, 2020

Sault Ste. Marie

The COVID-19 pandemic has put new pressure on municipalities. They are at the front line of the pandemic response, as they need to put in place precautions to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and manage public spaces and services.

The federal government recognized the important role played by municipalities in keeping Canadians healthy and safe and chose to support them in these difficult times through the Safe Restart Agreement.

In September 2020, the federal government announced it was providing the government of Ontario with over $776 million in funding, matched by the province, to support municipalities throughout the province. In total, over $5 billion were transferred to the government of Ontario to help keep people safe and healthy through the second wave.

Today, the government of Ontario along with the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development announced how $695 million of this fund will be allocated to municipalities across the province.

MP Terry Sheehan announced that the City of Sault Ste. Marie will receive $351,000.00 and the Township of Prince $20,000.00 to help them operate as they continue their important work of delivering key services and keeping the people in my riding of Sault Ste. Marie healthy and safe.

Quotes

“I am very glad to see this announcement addresses and resolves the very real concerns of the municipalities during these unprecedented times. Our government remains committed through the SRA funding that the Province needed to allocate and this money will ensure these municipalities enter 2021 without an operating deficit.”

— Terry Sheehan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages and Minister responsible for FedNor

“The economic consequences of the pandemic response have been significant and municipalities need support from our government partners to continue to serve our communities. The financial assistance from the Government of Canada is important and it has been significant. I want to recognize and thank the government accordingly.”

—Christian Provenzano, Mayor Sault Ste. Marie

”On behalf of Prince Township and all the other municipalities we are very grateful for the financial help the Federal Government has given us through this hard time dealing with the Covid virus. Our MP Terry Sheehan has been outstanding in the work he does and is much appreciated.”

—Ken Lamming, Mayor Township of Prince

“Fighting COVID-19 and safely restarting our economy requires a Team Canada approach. We will continue to work together with provinces and territories to keep Canadians safe and healthy, and to build a more resilient Canada.”

—The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

Quick Facts

On July 16, 2020, the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister announced an agreement to safely restart the economy that involved over $19 billion in funding from the federal government. The Safe Restart Agreement focuses on measures over six to eight months to restart the economy while protecting the health of Canadians.
Over $5 billion in federal investments were allocated to the government of Ontario to support them in their delivery and management of COVID-related response under seven key priorities:
- Testing, contact tracing, and data management
- Health care capacity, including mental health and substance use
- Protecting vulnerable populations, including seniors in long-term care facilities
- Securing personal protective equipment
- Child care for returning workers
- Support for municipalities, including for public transit
- Sick leave
In September 2020, the federal government transferred over $4.8 billion of the Safe Restart Agreement funds to the government of Ontario.
Total federal funding for municipalities and transit systems in Ontario is $1,776 billion ($1B for transit and $776M for municipalities). With the provincial cost-match, this means a total of over $3.5 billion are available to support municipalities, including transit systems
On December 16^th 2020, the Government of Ontario announced their decision on the second round of funding allocation to municipalities - a total of $695 million.

- $229 million is allocated across all 444 municipalities in Ontario, as operating budgets are being finalized.
- $396 million is also allocated to 48 municipalities that have been hit the hardest with additional operating costs due to COVID-19.

Associated Links

Contact

For more information (media only), please contact:

Corinne Havard

Senior Communications Advisor and Press secretary

Office of the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs

343-551-9740