MPP Oosterhoff announces more financial relief for Niagara Region

Last week, Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff announced that the Regional Municipality of Niagara, along with twelve lower-tier municipalities, will receive an additional $17,437,000.00 in Safe Restart Agreement funding.

The discretionary funding will be used to offset operating costs for critical services and help ensure that all 13 municipal governments in Niagara do not carry an operating deficit into 2021.

The Region will receive more than $9,000,000.

Additionally, West Niagara’s lower-tier municipalities will receive the following amounts:

• $137,000 for the Town of Grimsby;
• $1,084,000 for the Town of Lincoln, and;
• $66,000 for the Township of West Lincoln.

“This funding will provide our community with the support it needs to continue delivering critical services that we all rely on every day,” said MPP Oosterhoff.

“Today’s announcement will help all 13 local governments in Niagara develop 2021 budgets that reflect the realities of COVID-19 and give them the confidence they need to proceed with capital projects that will drive economic growth. ”

The Ontario government is allocating an additional $695 million across the province to provide financial relief for municipalities and help ensure they do not carry operating deficits into 2021.This investment builds upon the first phase of the federal-provincial Safe Restart Agreement announced this summer.

“This joint funding will help Ontario’s municipalities recover from the impacts of COVID-19 faster, by helping them to enter into 2021 without operating deficits from this year,” said Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

“By ensuring our municipal partners are in a sound financial position to begin the new year, they can better focus on keeping their capital projects on track while continuing to provide the critical services their residents rely on.”