THE prime minister of Canada, Mr Justin Trudeau, has announced the creation of the Canada Public Transit Fund and what he describes as the largest investment in public transport in the history of the country, with $C 30bn ($US 21.8bn) available over the first 10 years.

The permanent ongoing programme will provide an average of $C 3bn year to improve public transport in cities and communities across Canada, divided into three funding streams.

The federal government expects to make an average of $C 2bn a year, or $C 20bn over 10 years, available under Metro-Region Agreements. These are intended to support partnerships between provinces and major urban centres with the largest public transport networks, such as Greater Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Calgary and Montreal.

Municipalities and public transport agencies will be required to develop an Integrated Regional Plan with the provincial government. This should set out how long-term capital investment in public transport, complemented by land use and housing policy, will help to meet the core objectives of the new fund, which include increasing public transport use, housing supply and affordability, climate resilience, and social equity.

The amount of funding provided will depend on merit, the government says, with the largest awards made to the most ambitious partnerships, including those that can best demonstrate how investment in public transport will help build more homes.

The Baseline Funding stream will provide predictable funding for existing public transport networks, based on local population and ridership. This is expected to amount to an average of $C 500m a year, or $C 5bn over 10 years, for upgrading or replacing public transport infrastructure, including network expansion, lifecycle extension, performance upgrades and rolling stock maintenance.

Targeted Funding will be available to support key priorities, including the electrification of public transport. This funding will be delivered on a project-by-project basis through periodic calls for applications, and is also expected to amount to an average of $C 500m a year.

Funding will start in 2026. Applications for the Metro-Region Agreements and Baseline Funding streams are open now. The federal government says this will provide public transport agencies and municipalities with the funding certainty needed to move projects forward.

As part of its work to accelerate the process of building more homes, the government is making the provision of public transport funding conditional upon municipalities reforming planning regulations to encourage more new housing near public transport.

This will include abolishing all requirements to provide a minimum number of parking spaces for developments within 800m of a high-frequency transit line, and allowing high-density housing within the same distance.

“We are excited and proud to launch the Canada Public Transit Fund, and with it, to bring a new approach to transit funding in this country,” says minister of housing, infrastructure and communities, Mr Sean Fraser.

“This fund not only gives us an innovative way of working with partners on transit and active transportation projects, but will also go a long way in our work to help build more homes.”

For detailed data on Canadian public transport projects, subscribe to IRJ Pro.