The Canada Community Building Fund (CCBF), which has provided funding for Calgary projects both big and small, is set to continue for at least another decade.

The Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta announced on July 19, that Albertans would be receiving $1.3 billion in funding for the first five-years, in a 10-year to 2034 deal.

Until 2021, the fund was previously known as the Gas Tax Fund.

The province said in a statement on the deal that Alberta municipalities would receive $265 million in 2024.

“Investments in infrastructure are essential in supporting affordable and inclusive communities for all Canadians. We are proud to announce this deal that will provide communities across Alberta with flexibility to invest in their local needs,” said federal Minister for Housing, Infrastructure, and Communities Sean Fraser.

In 2023, the City of Calgary received $80.5 million from the federal government from the CBBF.

Minister of Municipal Affairs, Ric McIver, said that the province had worked with their federal counterparts to ensure stable funding for Alberta municipalities.

“Alberta communities rely on predictable, stable funding from all levels of government. This flexible funding program will enable Alberta communities to achieve their local infrastructure priorities, and help to address housing challenges with support for local roads and water lines for housing projects,” he said.

Calgary benefits from fund, but more needed said councillor

Among the largest Calgary projects funded by the CCBF has been the Arts Commons Transformation at $77 million, in 2021, as part of the City's downtown revitalization strategy.

More recently, the fund has gone to support funding for refurbishment and procurement of buses and light-rail trains for Calgary Transit, paving Calgary roads and upgrading traffic signals, repaving bike and pedestrian pathways, and increasing energy performance of Calgary facilities.

Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott said that while he was appreciative of the fund being renewed, it had in some ways become a double-edged sword for the City of Calgary.

"This is an important source of funding for more than just Calgary. My work on [Federation of Canadian Municipalities] and my work with Alberta Municipalities will tell you that the gas tax—or the Canada Community Building Fund—is one of the most important funding sources for so many communities who just don't have the property tax base to provide the services for their community,” Walcott said.

"Calgary is a little different. Calgary does have a very large tax base, and so these these pieces of funding, what they do is they allow us to do some specialized work, and they allow us to do so with while reducing the tax burden for our citizens, but at the same time we're in a deficit."

He said that the federal fund covered some of the $330 million fiscal gap in funding that has not been provided by the Government of Alberta to the City of Calgary through the downloading of operating costs.

"I know that there's more needed to be done to just make sure that the federal government and the provincial government are just paying for the things that are fully within the jurisdiction," he said.

The renewal of the CCBF, he said, ensured that the federal government was putting money towards some of Calgary's biggest priorities.

"These are programs where it's the city is putting money in, the province is putting money in, and we need to make sure that we're getting money from the federal government too, to make sure that we can accomplish these things appropriately without over taxing anybody,” Walcott said.

Among the changes for the new agreement was a requirement for the fund to be used towards housing infrastructure in municipalities of over 30,000 people.

The change in the agreement was applauded by Coun. Walcott, who described it as being part of the natural ebb and flow of government priorities.

"Sometimes I am very appreciative of the fact that people will say we have a national priority. This money is for a national priority: like housing, like infrastructure,” he said.

"There should be certainty around housing for Canadians, there should be certainty around infrastructure for municipalities. I'm actually appreciative of that fact that that's coming back, because I think that it needs to come back."