WESTLOCK — The government of Canada and province of Alberta have reached an agreement on the Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF) and have renewed it until March 31, 2034.
Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver made the announcement in a letter sent to municipalities, including the Town of Westlock in late July.
Under the new agreement, Alberta is receiving $265 million in funding in 2024, while the Town of Westlock will receive $336,683.
The CCBF funding will help municipalities with local infrastructure projects.
“The payments to local governments are anticipated to flow by the end of summer, so we don’t have an actual date of when that money will hit our bank account but we are expecting it soon,” said Town of Westlock CAO, Simone Wiley, noting this year’s funding amount is more than last year’s allocation. “In 2023 it was $$319, 331 so it’s about $17,000 more than we received last year,” she said.
Wiley noted the type of infrastructure projects the funding will go towards, stating it will be used for “road projects specifically.”
“This will be allocated to our road projects, is what we use this annual contribution for,” explained Wiley. “Right now we’re working on the 107A (Street) project, so we budget for this annually … the town’s been getting this money for a number of years… so this specific allocation gets used for that project that’s underway.”
The previous agreement expired in March, and with no renewal in place, municipalities did not know when the funding would come through. However, Wiley said that the town was confident the two sides could come to a consensus “for the benefit of municipalities in Alberta.”
“We were really not too worried about that, knowing that our provincial government will eventually come to an agreement and make it work for everyone.”
