$8M for Prince Rupert, $2M for Port Edward as Province outlines amounts to be delivered to Northwest communities from funding program of February

Premier John Horgan in Terrace in February announcing plans for a 
Northern Capital Fund, on Wednesday the province released the details
of how that funding will be distributed across the Northwest
(BC Gov't photo)

The Provincial government's Finance Department has put away the abacus and is now ready to deliver on Premier John Horgan's one time funding program for the Northwest, an initiative  known as the Northern Capital and Planning Grant first outlined by the Premier at a February 16th Terrace event.

In an announcement released on Wednesday, the distribution of part of the 100 million dollars in funding for four regional districts and 22 municipalities across the region was outlined with the North Coast set to receive close to 20 million dollars in the funds to be put to use towards long standing infrastructure needs.

For Prince Rupert the funding will provide for $8,121,000 dollars which can be used to meet immediate infrastructure concerns or can be saved for a future opportunity or as leverage to secure other sources of funding, borrowing or grant programs to cover major infrastructure and long term planning initiatives.

Prince Rupert City Council has not to this point indicated how they plan to make use of the funds since it was first announced in February.

For Port Edward the funding will deliver over 2 million dollars to be put towards infrastructure work around the District.

Around the North Coast and Haida Gwaii the financial distribution looks as follows:

Prince Rupert: $8,121,000
North Coast Regional District: $1,712,000
Port Edward: $2,098,000
Port Clements: $2,085,000
Queen Charlotte: $2,935,000
Masset: $2,753,000

Selina Robinson, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing made note of the challenges facing communities of the region and how the funding may offer some assistance for a range of initiatives.

“We’ve been hearing from local governments in northern B.C. about the challenges they face funding much-needed upgrades to their aging infrastructure, and I know this new grant will help close the gap, With this funding, communities can start moving forward on the initiatives they need to seize opportunities now and down the road.”

You can review more of the background to the North Coast funding here.

Around the remainder of the Northwest the funding distribution looks as follows, with Terrace  set to receive $8,197,000 leading the entire region in the total amount allocated to communities as part of this one time program.

Terrace: $8,197,000
Bulkley-Nechako Regional District: $5,800,000
Smithers: $6,218,000
Vanderhoof: $5,731,000
Kitimat-Stikine Regional District: $4,640,000
Houston: $4,486,000
Telkwa: $3,590,000 
Burns Lake: $3,439,000
Fort St James: $3,342,000
Fraser Lake: $2,607,000
New Hazelton: $2,580,000
Granisle: $2,353,000   
Hazelton: $2,148,000
Kitimat: $1,556,000 
Stewart: $1,294,000

Smithers Mayor Taylor Bachrach made note of the funding announcement through his Facebook page on Wednesday.

Statements from a number of other Northwest municipal officials were included in the release notes from yesterday's announcement.

You can review the notes related to the Kitimat-Stikine funding and that of Bulkley-Nechako from the links below:

Kitimat-Stikine
Bulkley-Nechako

The funding program extends as far east as Valemount and Mackenzie and you can review the distribution of funds to the communities in the east here.

For more notes related to the Legislature see our archive page here.