Supporting Municipalities During COVID-19

Additional $500 million investment will help ensure the stability of Ontario’s 444 municipalities as they plan for the year ahead

Our PC government is providing an additional $500 million to help the province’s 444 municipalities address ongoing COVID-19 operating costs. The new financial relief will help ensure the delivery of critical services and keep capital projects on track.

The funding is being prioritized to help municipalities hardest hit by the pandemic and can be used for things like personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, by-law enforcement and purchasing online meeting tools to support remote council meetings.

“Our government continues to adapt and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic as it evolves, and we know our municipal partners are on the front lines of this effort — providing the critical services people depend on every day,” said Steve Clark, MPP for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “Our municipalities have been clear that they need ongoing operating funding in 2021, and it’s important that we step up and provide more financial relief. At the same time, we need the federal government to join us and provide our municipal partners with the additional support they deserve.”

This builds on the $1.39 billion in operating funding that was provided to municipal partners through the joint federal-provincial Safe Restart Agreement. The second phase of the Safe Restart Agreement was allocated to all Ontario municipalities in December, to ensure that no community entered 2021 facing an operating deficit from 2020.