Gas Tax Fund: Results for Canadians
Permanent, flexible funding for municipalities

Building Infrastructure in Alberta

The Gas Tax Fund (GTF) is the largest component of the Building Canada plan – the Government of Canada’s $33-billion long-term infrastructure initiative.

The GTF targets exclusively municipal infrastructure to improve water and air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The GTF combines stable, long-term funding with local decision making to enable Canadian municipalities to revitalize and develop their core public infrastructure. Budget 2008 made the GTF a permanent federal program at $2 billion a year starting in 2014.

Since its launch, the GTF has delivered $1.1 billion to the provinces and territories resulting in more than 2,234 projects across the country with an estimated value of $3 billion. More than 85 percent of national GTF investments have focused on the renewal of existing infrastructure, with the three largest investment areas being water/wastewater, public transit, and local roads and bridges. Other eligible investment areas include solid waste management, community energy systems and capacity building.

Local governments in Alberta will receive $476.9 million in Gas Tax funding by 2010. By 2007, the province had invested 83 percent of the $114 million in Gas Tax funding it received in public transit in larger urban areas.

The emphasis on public transit includes $141 million for Calgary and $108 million for Edmonton to expand and enhance light rail service and encourage more people to use municipal transit. Other medium-sized urban centres, such as Lethbridge, have also earmarked their GTF allocations for public transit.

Smaller municipalities in Alberta identified water and wastewater systems, and roads and bridges as their priorities. The province established base funding of $80,000 for these small municipalities, many of which decided to save their Gas Tax funding for significant projects in the future. This includes sidewalk and wastewater system upgrades in Berwyn, wastewater upgrades in Galahad and a water distribution system for Hussar.