Thank you for inviting me to speak today.
I’m joined by representatives from Transport Canada:
- Arun Thangaraj, Deputy Minister of Transport,
- Serge Bijimine, ADM, Policy
- Joshua LaRocque, Director General, Transportation Infrastructure Programs
Canada is a vast nation, so an efficient and reliable network of roads is key to much of what we do. From coast-to-coast-to-coast, roads are part of how we get goods and people where they need to go—safely and quickly.
Taking care of these road networks—keeping them strong and in good repair, and expanding them where necessary—is just as important.
To be clear, the majority of Canadian highways fall under provincial, territorial, or municipal jurisdiction. That means it’s those levels of government who are mainly responsible for activities such as planning, design, construction, operation, maintenance and financing of the road network.
Nonetheless, Transport Canada has long funded, and continues to fund, a variety of road infrastructure.
By far, the biggest source of such funding is the National Trade Corridors Fund, or NTCF.
Since its launch in 2017, the NTCF has provided over 4.1 billion dollars for 213 infrastructure projects across Canada, including a funding commitment of over $1 billion for 42 projects involving roads. These projects are designed to help improve our national supply chain – making it smoother, more efficient, and more robust, and helping to ensure that goods and raw materials get more easily where they need to be.
Here are some examples.
We are investing a total of 135 million dollars for the upgrade of the Klondike Highway corridor. The project includes the reconstruction of 110 kilometres of road between Carmacks and Stewart Crossing, new bridges over the Nisutlin Bay and near the village of Teslin, and EV charging stations.
The government is providing 70.6 million dollars to help the City of Edmonton improve the crossing at 50th St. and help CP Railway increase safety and improve traffic flow. The project will construct a new overpass over the existing railway crossing, two new traffic lanes on 50th St., and realign the intersection at 82nd Ave. and 50th St.
There is also the now-completed Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 104) Twinning project with the Province of Nova Scotia included twinning and upgrading 28 kilometres of the existing highway, as well as constructing an entirely new 10-kilometre, four-lane realignment of the highway to facilitate container and truck traffic on the corridor.
We are also providing 45.9 million dollars to improve access to the Port of Montreal, where we are extending De l’Assomption Boulevard between Notre-Dame Street and Pierre-de-Coubertin Avenue, and creating a road link between the port and the Trans-Canada highway.
Transport Canada, via the NTCF, provided 50 million dollars for a project in Montreal that will, among other things, improve the road network around Mirabel Airport and facilitate access to a new loading bridge.
An additional 12.2 million dollars is being invested at the Fraser Surrey Port Lands, in British Columbia to improve the fluidity and safety of road and rail traffic operations.
Those are just a small sample of NTCF projects across the country that involve roads.
In addition to the NTCF, there is the Outaouais Road Agreement, which dates back to 1972. Its goal is to enhance overall road efficiency, promote safety, and encourage industrial development and tourism in the National Capital Region.
Last December I announced a joint investment of 70.4 million dollars under this program, to support several road projects in and around Gatineau.
Furthermore, our commitment to road safety extends to supporting the implementation and administration of the National Safety Code across the country. Since the inception of the program, we have invested 94 million dollars in supporting road safety initiatives, collaborating with various levels of government and non-governmental organizations to effectively address the reduction of road-related collisions, injuries, and fatalities.
[pause]
In closing, I'll come back to what I said at the beginning of my remarks: that although jurisdiction for most of our country's highways falls to municipalities, territories or provinces, there is still a role for the federal government—as these examples attest.
Thank you. I’d be happy to answer any questions that you may have.