2014 May

The Federal 2014 Budget tabled on February 11, 2014, contains provisions for several new infrastructure grant structures including the New Building Canada Fund (NBCF) consisting of $14 billion of federal funding.  The two major components are:

• The $4-billion National Infrastructure Component (NIC). Currently, the Government of Canada is taking applications for the NIC and information on applying is at http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/apply-application-eng.html.
• The $10-billion Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component (PTIC), which is divided into two sub-components; $9-billion for National and Regional projects (PTIC-NRP), and $1-billion dedicated to projects located in communities of fewer than 100,000 residents through the Small Communities Fund (PTIC-SCF).

The amount of federal funding allocated to Saskatchewan under PTIC is $437 million over 10 years. Find more information from the Government of Canada on PTIC.

The Government of Saskatchewan became aware of new PTIC program design information during Canada's New Building Canada Fund News Release on March 28, 2014.  Saskatchewan and Canada are currently negotiating PTIC program details.  Until an agreement is reached, the Government of Saskatchewan will not be taking applications for PTIC.

The negotiation and implementation of a new 10 year municipal infrastructure program will take time, and provincial officials are working diligently to move forward as quickly as possible.  We are not in a position to provide estimated timelines for program rollout at this time.  As more information becomes available, the Ministry of Government Relations will be in contact with its municipal partners to provide more detail.

Through the establishment of Additional Service Areas (ASA), rural municipalities (RMs) now have a new way to fund the delivery of services in specific areas that require additional or different servicing from the rest of the RM.

As the province continues to experience record growth in population and prosperity, residents are enjoying increased choice in where to work, live and raise a family. RMs requested the authority to establish ASAs after noticing a rise in their communities of multi-lot acreage developments and other urban-like developments, which may require separate or different services from the surrounding RM. 

The Ministry of Government Relations has developed a guide, now available on the Ministry’s website, to serve as a handbook for councils who wish to establish ASAs in their RMs. It outlines the legislative changes that enable their creation, and provides step-by-step instructions in ASA administration and financing. 

Government Relations has updated the education property tax (EPT) calculator for 2014. The EPT calculator helps property taxpayers calculate and compare the current year and previous year's education property tax.

The Government of Saskatchewan is providing $25.5 million in funding for 80 road, bridge and culvert projects in 64 rural municipalities (RMs) through the Municipal Roads for the Economy Program (MREP). MREP provides funding for municipal roads impacted by increased truck traffic, as well as bridge and culvert projects.

Highlights of the 2014 MREP grants include:

• $9.7 million in grants for 19 Heavy Haul-High Volume road construction projects;
• $7.3 million for 24 Clearing the Path road construction projects; and
• 37 bridge and culvert projects totalling $7.7 million.

The government has invested a record $4.3 billion in transportation infrastructure since 2008.