B.C. cities share $29 million gas tax revenues for infrastructure

British Columbia has received the first installment of the second year’s gas tax revenues from the federal government, and at the end of July distributed over $29 million to 151 local governments and the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority. The province received $60 million in total from the gas tax fund last year, which was the first year the federal government agreed to pass the revenues from gasoline taxes to the provinces.
The B.C. municipalities receiving amounts over $300,000 for their infrastructure projects this year are Abbotsford, Kamloops, Kelowna, Nanaimo, Prince George, Saanich and Victoria. The Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority received almost $18.5 million.
In making the announcement on July 28, federal minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, said: “This funding will result in improvements to the Greater Vancouver’s transit system by enabling the purchase of 225 new buses, the construction of infrastructure priorities such as cycling lanes and improvements to municipal water treatment.”
The Honourable Ida Chong, B.C. Minister of Community Services, promised that the money would be devoted to a “made-in-B.C.” approach.
Eligible project categories include water and wastewater, solid-waste management, public transit, community energy systems and local government capacity building.