Additional Support for Municipalities

More funding to help eligible municipalities grow their communities and build for the future is now available.

Applications opened today, November 1, for the new Municipal Capital Growth Program. This one-time program represents a $32-million investment in municipalities and is designed to support priority infrastructure projects to serve Nova Scotia’s growing population.

“Municipalities are key partners in growing our province, and we are committed to helping them thrive,” said John Lohr, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “This additional investment helps ensure municipalities have the funding they need to provide important services to residents, while making impactful infrastructure upgrades to their communities that will support things like population growth and more housing.”

The program is also open to villages. Project approvals and funding amounts will be tied to addressing provincial priorities in the following categories:

• water and wastewater – projects can include construction, expansion and/or renewal of facilities for the treatment and disposal of sanitary sewage; sanitary sewage collection systems; water intake and treatment; pumping and storage facilities; water transmission and distribution systems; and storm sewer separation and infrastructure which reduces/eliminates combined sewer overflows
• accessibility – capital projects required to comply with the Accessibility Act, projects supported by accessibility plans, or accessibility improvements to municipal infrastructure including sidewalks and active transportation
• brownfield redevelopment – including demolition, remediation and earthworks as required to enable residential development and extension of services to remediate vacant or underutilized land
• climate change adaptation – including capital project recommendations from climate hazard/risk assessments, coastal and inland flooding adaptations, and emergency preparedness around water and storage.

The program will fund up to 50 per cent of costs for eligible projects. Funding priority will be given to applications that help communities address critical capacity issues, expand their services, build more accessible and adaptable communities, and restore contaminated land to allow for future development.

The program website, which includes application forms, is https://beta.novascotia.ca/apply-funding-support-municipal-infrastructure-projects-municipal-capital-growth-program . The deadline for applications is December 13.

Quick Facts:

• the Province is hosting an information session to help municipalities navigate the application process on November 14; staff will be available to assist throughout the application phase
• projects are anticipated to begin in the spring and must be completed by March 31, 2026
• program funding is for the 2023–24 fiscal year

Additional Resources:

Mandate letter for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing: https://novascotia.ca/exec_council/letters-2021/ministerial-mandate-letter-2021-MAH-EMO-MR.pdf

NOTE: The date of the information session was updated November 1, 2023.