Prime Minister Carney launches $51 billion Build Communities Strong Fund
· Toronto Sun
OTTAWA — A little over five months after it was announced, Canada has officially launched their massive $51 billion infrastructure initiative.
O riginally introduced in November during the 2025 Budget, the Build Communities Strong Fund is described by the government as a decade-long “generational investment” that the government hopes will offer relief to Canada’s affordable housing crisis and modernize civic infrastructure.
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“That means building hospitals in our communities,” Carney said during a Tuesday morning press conference at Century Gardens recreation centre in Brampton, where the city is constructing a youth club on the site of the centre’s now-demolished lawn bowling green.
“It means building new rapid transit that reduces traffic and cut the commute home in half, and it means community centres, like Century Gardens, where kids can play safely on the weekend.”
Fund will be split into three streams
The $51 billion Build Communities Strong Fund will be divided into three streams — a $27.8 billion community stream meant for essential civic infrastructure such as roads, bridges, community centres and underground utilities, $17.2 billion bilaterally-funded provincial/territorial stream meant to build hospitals, housing infrastructure and post secondary schools, and the $6 billion direct delivery stream meant for regional projects and large-scale retrofits of existing structures.
“We’re partnering with provinces, territories and municipalities to build local infrastructure,” Carney said Tuesday morning.
Last week, Carney joined with Ontario Premier Doug Ford to announce the first project under the provincial/territorial stream that will cut development charges in half and eliminate the 13% HST from new home purchases.
“To combine those lower taxes and lower fees, that’s up to $200,000 off a new home, right here in Brampton.”
Participation in the provincial/territorial stream will require provinces or territories to commit to reducing onerous development charges — a key barrier in home affordability that can significantly add to the price of a new home.
The Build Communities Strong Fund will also make heavy use of Canada’s new “Buy Canadian” procurement policy, meant to ensure public money is kept within Canada instead of buying supplies, materials or equipment from the United States — a program identified last week by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as a major “trade irritant.”
Ontario is set to receive the lion’s share of funding via the provincial streams at $6 billion, followed by $3.6 billion for Quebec, $1.9 billion for Alberta, $698 million for Manitoba, $610 million for Saskatchewan, $542 million for Nova Scotia, $461 million for New Brunswick, $352 million for Newfoundland, $204 million for PEI, $156 million each for the Northwest Territories and the Yukon, and $155 million for Nunavut.
First set of 13 projects announced
Tuesday also saw the release of the first series of 13 projects funded under the program , with the 16,000 sq. m. Embleton Community Centre in southwestern Brampton taking centre stage — built thanks to a $64 million investment from the fund and is the only Ontario project on the roster.
Other projects include street redevelopment in Laval, QC., a new water treatment plant in Hay River, NWT, infrastructure to support new housing in Iqaluit, NT, and water utility work in St. Albert, Alta.
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown praised the announcement, describing the announcement as a big step up for Brampton and other cities.
“We’re building for today, but more importantly, we’re building for the future, and we’re doing it together,” he said.