Ontario set to unveil details of how it will spend federal infrastructure funds

OTTAWA - The federal infrastructure minister and his Ontario counterpart will unveil details today about how the country's most populous province will spend billions in new federal infrastructure money.

The details of the deal are to be announced this afternoon in Mississauga, revealing how much transit, green and social infrastructure funding Ontario will receive over the next decade.

Further details will be unveiled in the coming days when the agreement itself becomes public.

Signing the agreements is necessary before any of the $33 billion that Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi oversees can flow to provinces and ultimately to municipal projects.

The deal will be the second in as many weeks as part of a federal push to sign all funding agreements with each province and territory by the end of the month.

Last week, the federal Liberals signed a funding agreement with Northwest Territories which included wording that could allow the territory to transfer public transit money to projects that help communities mitigate the effects of climate change.

Provinces and territories had asked Sohi for flexibility in how they use federal funding at the outset of negotiations this fall.

The territorial deal also laid out expected community employment benefits from any project and set timelines for project spending over the next decade.

The Liberals want projects funded under the second phase of their infrastructure program to contribute to economic growth and show environmental benefits, particularly by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.