GREATER
TORONTO AREA, ON, July 17,
2024 /CNW/ - Public transit shortens commute times,
grows our economy, and helps keep our air clean. For many Canadians
– especially Millennials and Gen Z, who frequently use public
transit – it's an affordable option to get around. As we build more
homes faster, public transit is also key to connecting communities
and making life cost less. That's why the federal government is
investing in public transit infrastructure – with more jobs, lower
emissions, and a fair chance for every generation to get ahead.
Since 2015, we have committed $30 billion into thousands of
public transit projects across the country – from new subway lines
in Canada's biggest cities, like
the Millennium Broadway Subway Extension project in Vancouver and the Finch West light rail line
project in Toronto, to new transit
serving rural and remote communities – and we know there is more to
be done.
The Prime Minister, Justin
Trudeau, today announced the launch of the Canada Public
Transit Fund, a new $30 billion investment over the first ten
years to expand public transit and make it more accessible across
the country. This is the largest public transit investment in
Canadian history.
The Canada Public Transit Fund will transform the way we
deliver transit funding to communities across the country. This
permanent ongoing program will invest an average of $3 billion
per year to help cities and communities deliver better public
transit systems for Canadians.
Funding will be delivered across three streams:
- Metro-Region Agreements will provide extensive funding
to support partnerships between provinces and large urban areas
with the largest public transit systems, to build the public
transit networks Canadians are counting on. This could include
regions such as the Greater Toronto
Area and other metropolitan areas like Vancouver, Winnipeg, Calgary, Montréal, and Halifax, among others. Funding amounts will be
based on merit, with the highest amounts of funding going to the
most ambitious partnerships, including those that can best
demonstrate how investments in transit will help build more
homes.
- Baseline Funding will deliver predictable funding to
communities across the country with existing transit systems, based
on their population and ridership. This will help communities of
all sizes upgrade, replace, or modernize their transit
infrastructure, including system expansion, lifecycle extension,
performance upgrades, and investments in the state of good repair
of their fleets.
- Targeted Funding will be available to support key
priorities like active transportation, rural and remote transit,
transit investments in Indigenous communities, and the
electrification of public transit and school transportation. This
funding will be delivered on a project-by-project basis through
periodic calls for applications, so the federal government can
respond to the evolving transit needs of communities in the
future.
Funding will begin to flow in 2026, but we are opening the
intakes for Metro-Region Agreements and Baseline Funding today, so
that we can provide transit agencies and municipalities with the
funding certainty they need to advance projects now.
The Canada Public Transit Fund will also complement our
work to build more homes faster. Through programs like the Housing
Accelerator Fund, we're giving cities and towns more money to build
more homes – but with a condition: if municipalities want federal
funding, they have to change their zoning by-laws to build more
housing near transit.
As promised in Budget 2024, we're applying that rule to
public transit funding as well. To access long-term, predictable
funding through this program, municipalities will need to take
actions that directly unlock housing supply. This includes
measures to:
- Eliminate all mandatory minimum parking requirements within 800
metres of a high-frequency transit line.
- Allow high-density housing within 800 metres of a
high-frequency transit line.
- Allow high-density housing within 800 metres of post-secondary
institutions.
- Complete a housing needs assessment for all communities with a
population greater than 30,000.
This will help more people live near transit, create good-paying
jobs, grow our economy, and make transit systems better for
everyone.
By investing in public transit, we're creating communities that
are connected, affordable, and set up to succeed. This is part of
our plan to deliver fairness for every generation. Alongside this,
we're cutting red tape, building more homes, modernizing
infrastructure, and growing our economy. Our goal is clear – making
sure our communities have the investments they need to succeed, now
and for generations to come.
Quotes
"We're making the largest public transit investment in Canadian
history. Our government's new Canada Public Transit Fund will
invest $30 billion in community infrastructure to expand,
improve, and modernize public transit – giving Canadians affordable
options to get around, and making sure housing development is
linked to that funding. Let's make public transit better,
faster, and easier to use."
— The Rt. Hon. Justin
Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
"Investing in public transit is essential to ensuring
Canada's economy reaches its full
potential. Better transit makes it quicker and more affordable for
Canadians to get to where they need to go, all while reducing
emissions. Our new $30 billion Canada Public Transit Fund is a
generational investment to build better communities and public
transit across the country."
— The Hon. Chrystia
Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
"Public transit is an invaluable tool in making people's lives
more affordable, tackling climate change, and better connecting
communities. We are excited and proud to launch the Canada Public
Transit Fund today, and with it, to bring a new approach to transit
funding in this country. This fund not only gives us an innovative
way of working with partners on transit and active transportation
projects, but will also go a long way in our work to help build
more homes."
— The Hon. Sean Fraser,
Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities
Quick Facts
- For this announcement, Prime Minister Trudeau was joined by the
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, and the Mayor of Toronto, Olivia
Chow.
- The Canada Public Transit Fund will provide:
- an expected average of $2 billion
per year, or $20 billion over 10
years, for Metro-Region Agreements.
- an expected average of $500
million per year, or $5
billion over 10 years, in Baseline Funding.
- an expected average of $500
million per year, or $5
billion over 10 years, in Targeted Funding.
- The design of the Canada Public Transit Fund was guided by key
findings resulting from a national public engagement process
launched in 2022.
- More information on the first call for applications under the
Targeted Funding stream will be available soon.
- To access funding under the Metro-Region Agreements stream,
local governments and transit agencies will have to work in
partnership with their provincial government to develop and share
Integrated Regional Plans. These plans should outline how long-term
capital investments in transit and active transportation,
complemented by supporting transportation, land use, and housing
policy, will advance the core objectives of the Canada Public
Transit Fund, including transit use, housing supply and
affordability, climate resilience, and social equity.
- A total of $20 million in funding
has been made available, for 2024-25 and 2025-26, to metro regions
for planning activities that will support the development of
high-quality Integrated Regional Plans.
- The Canada Public Transit Fund is designed to meet the unique
needs of communities of all sizes – from urban centres, to
mid-sized communities, to rural, remote, Northern, and Indigenous
communities. It will strengthen our collaboration with local
governments and partners across the country to increase access to
public transit, advance our work to fight climate change, and
improve public transit for all Canadians, especially Indigenous
Peoples.
- The Canada Public Transit Fund builds on the success of three
existing transit funds: the Rural Transit Solutions Fund, the Zero
Emission Transit Fund, and the Active Transportation Fund.
- Funding delivered through the Canada Public Transit Fund will
help Canada meet its target of net
zero by reducing emissions in the transportation sector, which
currently accounts for approximately 22 per cent of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions.
- Since 2015, the federal government has committed over
$30 billion in over 1,800 transit projects across Canada, providing Canadians with cleaner and
more efficient commuting options. These investments are helping to
build more than 350 kilometres of new public transit subway and
light-rail lines, purchase over 3,360 zero-emission buses, and
create almost 1,175 kilometres of active transportation trails,
bike lanes, pedestrian lanes, and recreational paths.
Related Product
- Backgrounder: Federal government launches the Canada Public
Transit Fund, investing in public transit needs across Canada
Associated Links
- Canada Public Transit Fund
- Targeted Funding stream
This document is also available at https://pm.gc.ca
SOURCE Prime Minister's Office