Irrigation, Broadband Part Of Government's $10 Billion Infrastructure Plan

Oct 02, 2020

On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced $10 billion in new major infrastructure initiatives. The Canada Infrastructure Bank’s (CIB) Growth Plan is expected to create approximately 60,000 jobs across the country.

The three-year Growth Plan will invest in five major initiatives:

- $1.5 billion for agriculture irrigation projects in Western Canada. This includes the addition of an estimated 700,000 acres of newly irrigated land

- $2 billion to connect approximately 750,000 homes and small businesses to broadband in underserved communities

- $2.5 billion for clean power to support renewable generation and storage and to transmit clean electricity between provinces, territories, and regions, including to northern and Indigenous communities.

- $2 billion to invest in large-scale building retrofits to increase energy efficiency and help make communities more sustainable

- $1.5 billion to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission buses and charging infrastructure

"Increased irrigation can help farmers grow higher value crops and more crops per acre. It also makes water usage more efficient and helps provide protection from droughts. These types of investments will have positive impacts for years to come, helping mitigate the impacts of erratic weather events," said Canadian Federation of Agriculture President Mary Robinson. "Rural broadband has been a long-standing issue for Canada's farmers and rural communities. With the arrival of COVID-19, many services pivoted to become entirely online, highlighting the fact farmer's lack of high-speed connectivity puts us at a significant business disadvantage. Rural broadband is not only necessary for today's farmers to conduct business and take advantage of cutting-edge technology, it is also critical to attracting new, young farmers into the industry. We know younger generations see high-speed connectivity as essential to everyday living and business."

The CIB will also allocate $500 million for project development and early construction works.

Through the Canada Infrastructure Bank, the federal government has committed $35 billion to support infrastructure projects across the country.

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