OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada is launching a C$10 billion ($7.5 billion) three-year infrastructure plan that will help the country recover from the coronavirus outbreak and create 60,000 jobs, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Thursday.
“With smart, targeted investments, we can get people back on the job and grow the economy, while building a healthy, sustainable future for everyone,” said Trudeau, who has made fighting climate change a major priority.
The money will come from a C$35 billion funding package that Ottawa has already announced for the Canada Infrastructure Bank, which critics complain has done little since it was set up by Trudeau’s government in 2017.
Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna told reporters the bank had “a new, focused growth plan designed for these times”.
The money will be divided up as follows:
* C$2.5 billion for clean power to support renewable generation and storage and to transmit clean electricity
* C$2 billion to connect approximately 750,000 homes and small businesses to broadband in underserved communities.
* C$2 billion to invest in large-scale building retrofits to increase energy efficiency
* C$1.5 billion for agriculture irrigation projects to help enhance production
* C$1.5 billion to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission buses and charging infrastructure
* C$500 million for project development and early construction works
(Reporting by David Ljunggren and Steve Scherer; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
