zang
Senior Member
It would be awesome if using the NWC also immediately triggered an election.
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PM Mark Carney's Canada
- Thread starter Richard White
- Start date
thettctransitfanatic
Senior Member
Building Stronger Communities in Toronto
From: Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada
News release
Toronto, Ontario, March 19, 2026 — Our communities can only grow to support more housing when there are investments in foundational infrastructure projects – like public transit, water systems, and local roads and bridges. With today’s announcement, the first through the new Build Communities Strong Fund, that is exactly what the Government of Canada is delivering on.
Today, the Honourable Gregor Robertson, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada, Jennifer McKelvie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, Her Worship Olivia Chow, Mayor of the City of Toronto, and Michael Atlas, General Counsel of the Toronto Transit Commission, announced a federal investment of over $183 million to the City of Toronto for the 2025-26 fiscal year through what will be the Community stream of the Build Communities Strong Fund.
Through the allocation announced today, the Government of Canada is helping to improve transit and make it more accessible through projects like the Toronto Transit Commission’s Easier Access Program which will upgrade subway stations with elevators, accessible doors, updated signage, and wayfinding.
In the coming weeks, more details will be launched on the Build Communities Strong Fund, which comprises of three major streams:
A Provincial and Territorial stream that will provide $17.2 billion over 10 years to support infrastructure projects and priorities. This includes housing-enabling, health-related infrastructure, and infrastructure at colleges and universities.
From this stream, $5 billion over three years will be dedicated specifically to health infrastructure funding, upgrading health infrastructure such as hospitals, emergency rooms, and urgent care centres.
A Direct Delivery stream that will provide $6 billion to support regionally significant projects, climate adaptation, and community infrastructure. This could include clean-energy generation and storage projects, flood protection, and new community and recreational spaces.
A Community stream that will provide $27.8 billion for local roads, bridges, water systems, and community centres – getting the basics right and helping towns and cities grow – which will be the existing Canada Community-Building Fund moving under this newly launched fund to help streamline the government’s infrastructure efforts.
Together, we will build Canada strong by strengthening the infrastructure, housing, and public transit that Canadians rely on every day.
Quotes:
“Building a strong Canada starts with building strong communities. We are investing in new infrastructure projects that build better public transit, support housing, and foster connected communities. Our investment in Toronto reinforces our commitment to building bold, building strong, and building together.”
The Honourable Gregor Robertson, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada
“We’re grateful for federal CCBF funding that helps us upgrade the TTC and make our public transit system more accessible and reliable. I’ve made record investments into increasing TTC service levels and making much-needed repairs, without raising fares, and our strong partnership with the Federal government helps us go even further. Together, we’re committed to making public transit more affordable, safe and reliable, which in turn supports more housing and economic growth in our city.”
Her Worship Olivia Chow, Mayor of the City of Toronto
“Stable, predictable funding for public transit is critical to the viability of our system, and the Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF) is a prime example of an essential funding program. We know that functional public transit is essential for growth, freedom of movement and reducing congestion on our roads. This investment will help the TTC to improve transit for millions of commuters across the City of Toronto.”
Jamaal Myers, Chair of the Board, Toronto Transit Commission
Quick facts
The Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF), which will be the new Community stream of the Build Communities Strong Fund, is delivering $26.7 billion between 2024-2034 in federal funding to catalyse core infrastructure investments.
In 2025-26, the CCBF provided $2.5 billion to 3,700 communities across Canada to support local infrastructure priorities, including $183,950,774 to the City of Toronto.
Since 2015, the federal government has invested $24.2 billion across Canada through CCBF, including more than $932 million to the City of Toronto.
Backgrounder: Building Stronger Communities in Toronto - Canada.ca
From: Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada
News release
Toronto, Ontario, March 19, 2026 — Our communities can only grow to support more housing when there are investments in foundational infrastructure projects – like public transit, water systems, and local roads and bridges. With today’s announcement, the first through the new Build Communities Strong Fund, that is exactly what the Government of Canada is delivering on.
Today, the Honourable Gregor Robertson, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada, Jennifer McKelvie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, Her Worship Olivia Chow, Mayor of the City of Toronto, and Michael Atlas, General Counsel of the Toronto Transit Commission, announced a federal investment of over $183 million to the City of Toronto for the 2025-26 fiscal year through what will be the Community stream of the Build Communities Strong Fund.
Through the allocation announced today, the Government of Canada is helping to improve transit and make it more accessible through projects like the Toronto Transit Commission’s Easier Access Program which will upgrade subway stations with elevators, accessible doors, updated signage, and wayfinding.
In the coming weeks, more details will be launched on the Build Communities Strong Fund, which comprises of three major streams:
A Provincial and Territorial stream that will provide $17.2 billion over 10 years to support infrastructure projects and priorities. This includes housing-enabling, health-related infrastructure, and infrastructure at colleges and universities.
From this stream, $5 billion over three years will be dedicated specifically to health infrastructure funding, upgrading health infrastructure such as hospitals, emergency rooms, and urgent care centres.
A Direct Delivery stream that will provide $6 billion to support regionally significant projects, climate adaptation, and community infrastructure. This could include clean-energy generation and storage projects, flood protection, and new community and recreational spaces.
A Community stream that will provide $27.8 billion for local roads, bridges, water systems, and community centres – getting the basics right and helping towns and cities grow – which will be the existing Canada Community-Building Fund moving under this newly launched fund to help streamline the government’s infrastructure efforts.
Together, we will build Canada strong by strengthening the infrastructure, housing, and public transit that Canadians rely on every day.
Quotes:
“Building a strong Canada starts with building strong communities. We are investing in new infrastructure projects that build better public transit, support housing, and foster connected communities. Our investment in Toronto reinforces our commitment to building bold, building strong, and building together.”
The Honourable Gregor Robertson, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada
“We’re grateful for federal CCBF funding that helps us upgrade the TTC and make our public transit system more accessible and reliable. I’ve made record investments into increasing TTC service levels and making much-needed repairs, without raising fares, and our strong partnership with the Federal government helps us go even further. Together, we’re committed to making public transit more affordable, safe and reliable, which in turn supports more housing and economic growth in our city.”
Her Worship Olivia Chow, Mayor of the City of Toronto
“Stable, predictable funding for public transit is critical to the viability of our system, and the Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF) is a prime example of an essential funding program. We know that functional public transit is essential for growth, freedom of movement and reducing congestion on our roads. This investment will help the TTC to improve transit for millions of commuters across the City of Toronto.”
Jamaal Myers, Chair of the Board, Toronto Transit Commission
Quick facts
The Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF), which will be the new Community stream of the Build Communities Strong Fund, is delivering $26.7 billion between 2024-2034 in federal funding to catalyse core infrastructure investments.
In 2025-26, the CCBF provided $2.5 billion to 3,700 communities across Canada to support local infrastructure priorities, including $183,950,774 to the City of Toronto.
Since 2015, the federal government has invested $24.2 billion across Canada through CCBF, including more than $932 million to the City of Toronto.
Backgrounder: Building Stronger Communities in Toronto - Canada.ca
thettctransitfanatic
Senior Member
While Doug Ford faces the wrath of the OSAP protesters... the feds are stepping in with increased student financial assistance from their end.
www.canada.ca
Government of Canada extends financial supports for post-secondary students - Canada.ca
Post-secondary education is one of Canada’s most important long-term investments. Ensuring that Canadians can gain the skills and qualifications they need to get good jobs, in high-demand sectors, is key to creating a more competitive workforce.
Northern Light
Superstar
While Doug Ford faces the wrath of the OSAP protesters... the feds are stepping in with increased student financial assistance from their end.
Government of Canada extends financial supports for post-secondary students - Canada.ca
Post-secondary education is one of Canada’s most important long-term investments. Ensuring that Canadians can gain the skills and qualifications they need to get good jobs, in high-demand sectors, is key to creating a more competitive workforce.
Interesting.
I went here and used the default settings for an Ontario Student ($6,517 in tuition)
Student Aid Estimator - Canada.ca
It spit back that I would qualify for a $4,200 grant towards same (so roughly 2/3 of tuition).
Not bad.
( single student, living at home, no other source of financial aid, no special circumstances, full-time program, 2+ years undergrad.) (family income zero)
I then re-ran it with 40k income and it spit back $3,894. Still pretty good.
But falls pretty quickly above that, at $60,000 in family income, the grant is $1,228. In Toronto, that's still a pretty spare income.
hw621
Senior Member
I ran it for my kid. Again like everything else it is ZERO...Interesting.
I went here and used the default settings for an Ontario Student ($6,517 in tuition)
Student Aid Estimator - Canada.ca
certification.esdc.gc.ca
It spit back that I would qualify for a $4,200 grant towards same (so roughly 2/3 of tuition).
Not bad.
( single student, living at home, no other source of financial aid, no special circumstances, full-time program, 2+ years undergrad.) (family income zero)
I then re-ran it with 40k income and it spit back $3,894. Still pretty good.
But falls pretty quickly above that, at $60,000 in family income, the grant is $1,228. In Toronto, that's still a pretty spare income.
thettctransitfanatic
Senior Member
Canada clears NATO's 2% bar — after years of lagging and a last-minute lift
Milestone fulfills Prime Minister Carney's promise under intense allied pressure
Canada crossed the politically significant threshold of meeting NATO's defence spending benchmark of two per cent of gross domestic product, according to the Western alliance's annual secretary general's report and compilation of statistics released on Thursday.
It is the first time since the late 1980s — toward the end of the Cold War — that the country has met the target, which has in recent years taken on enormous political and symbolic significance.
The Liberal government achieved the goal with an injection of an additional $9.3 billion into the Department of National Defence's budget last June — bringing the overall defence expenditures to just over $61 billion.
Despite the huge expenditure, the NATO report showed that Canada had crossed the line by the skin of its teeth, registering an estimated two per cent of GDP. It was still in the bottom one-third of the alliance in terms of defence spending, along with Belgium, Spain, Albania and Portugal.
The top spenders in terms of percentage of GDP included Poland (4.3), Lithuania (4.0), Latvia (3.74) Estonia (3.42) and Denmark (3.34). The United States ranked seventh overall (3.19).
Hitting the two per cent benchmark by the end of the fiscal year, on March 31, was a promise Prime Minister Mark Carney made in the face of long-standing pressure from allies, including the United States.
The achievement represents a dramatic turnaround from not quite two years ago when former prime minister Justin Trudeau referred to the two per cent goal as a "crass mathematical calculation," one that he had reportedly told allies Canada would never meet.
The country arrives at the threshold months after NATO leaders vowed to increase defence spending even higher over the next decade to five per cent of GDP (3.5 per cent on direct military spending and 1.5 on defence infrastructure).
Getting to the two per cent goal was never assured because, over many years, the Defence Department has not had the institutional capacity to spend all of its appropriation. It has often had to return unspent billions of dollars to the federal treasury.
The benchmark was partly achieved by an internal reorganization of the federal government, which has seen some agencies, such as the Canadian Coast Guard, moved under the auspices of the Defence Department and therefore counted toward the NATO target. It was also achieved through a substantial pay raise for members of the military and by pouring money into base infrastructure and overhaul.
While the prime minister deserves credit for making defence spending a priority, defence analyst Dave Perry says there's been an emerging agreement across the political spectrum that the investment were necessary.
"It hasn't been just Mr. Carney," said Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. "In the last federal election every party committed to spending two per cent of GDP on defence. It is a completely different political consensus on defence than the one that we had had for the previous decade where they were all in agreement that didn't need to hit."
Perry said that changed a year ago.
Carney is in Halifax Thursday and expected to have more to say about the achievement and face questions on the details of the spending.
hw621
Senior Member
Lowering the GDP will make it easier to achieve the target...