London welcomes $23M under Water Systems Fund – Daily Commercial News

LONDON, ONT. – The Ontario government has announced it is allocating $23 million to the City of London under the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund, calculating the spending will enable the construction of 17,576 new homes in the city.

The City will use the funding to expand the capacity of wastewater infrastructure in downtown London by replacing 175 metres of sanitary sewers under the Thames River and constructing new wastewater shafts, stated an Aug. 27 release.

The funding is being delivered through the first round of investments under the program, which includes $970 million to help municipalities develop, repair, rehabilitate and expand drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure. The government is also allocating an additional $250 million and accepting a second round of applications through the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund, bringing the province’s total investment in the fund to $1.2 billion.

Under the second intake, $120 million will be dedicated to projects in small, rural and northern municipalities without housing targets.

“By investing in drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities and connecting pipes to land, we are helping municipalities build 511,000 new homes through the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund, including over 17,500 homes through this project here in London,” stated Minister of Infrastructure Kinga Surma. “Building Ontario means building more homes and homes can’t be built without connections to drinking water and wastewater.”

Ontario is also now accepting applications for funding under the $400 million Housing-Enabling Core Servicing stream of the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program to build, maintain and repair core assets such as municipal roads, bridges and culverts that will enable the construction of new homes. More information about the program is available at ontario.ca/housinginfrastructure.