The province is doubling its Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund allocation for Municipalities, Towns, and Villages in the Parry Sound District.
According to the province’s 2022 allocation sheet, over $4.3 million have been earmarked for 17 area towns and townships. Last year the province’s allocation for all 17 recipients totaled to just over $2 million.
Parry Sound Mayor Jamie McGarvey says the town’s $1.4 million allocations will be put to good use.
“There’s definitely some paving that needs to be done on our connection through town,” he says. “There’s some paving on streets as well that need to be done,”
McGarvey says the town is also trying to get a better pedestrian crossing at the St. Charles crossing on Isabella Street. “We did get some Transport Canada funding for that and I’m hoping that will be able to use some of [the province’s infrastructure funding] towards that as well,”
He says there is also road work that needs to be done there as well but as far as the infrastructure that’s in the ground and where money can go, those are broader conversations for council to have.
“Those big-ticket items need a lot of thought engineering to make happen,” McGarvey says. “That’s where we need to have our conversations but there’s a lot of surface stuff through the community that needs to be taken care of as well.”
Here is a breakdown of the allocations from highest to lowest;
- Parry Sound is receiving $1,444,350
- Seguin is receiving $343,131
- McDougall is receiving $334,659
- Burk’s Falls is receiving $261,989
- Archipelago is receiving $250,328
- Callander is receiving $204,290
- Magnetawan is receiving $198,604
- Armour is receiving $176,932
- Strong is receiving $158,224
- Kearney is receiving $153,227
- McKellar is receiving $149,500
- Sundridge is receiving $148,635
- Powassan is receiving $102,030
- Carling, Perry, Whitestone and South River are each receiving $100,000
According to the province, this boost in funding over the next five years will help build and repair local roads, bridges, water and wastewater infrastructure in our communities.