York Region seeks federal funds for sewage project

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 4, 2016
By Simon Martin

Like every municipality in Canada, East Gwillimbury has its designs on getting some of that federal infrastructure money the Justin Trudeau Liberals promised at election time.

It seems York Region also thinks East Gwillimbury - the newest major growth centre in the north of the region - is also worthy of some infrastructure investment.

Regional chairman Wayne Emmerson said the Upper York Sewage Solutions (UYSS) will be one of the projects the region puts forward for federal infrastructure money along with the Yonge subway, affordable housing and broadband enhancement.

East Gwillimbury Mayor Virginia Hackson certainly believes the UYSS project is worthy of federal money, as it will help facilitate the second phase of growth after the servicing from the York-Durham Sewage System extension is used up.

The project is certainly unique, she said.

“It’s a very different sewage treatment plant. When you build a sewage treatment plant now, it can’t be same as the ones 10 or 15 or 30 years ago. It has to have new technology,” Hackson said.

If the federal government can get involved to help, it certainly would make the project more palatable for the region from a financial perspective, Hackson said.

The made-in-York solution, mandated by the province to ease pressure off Lake Ontario and the Big Pipe, was originally supposed to be operational in 2018. But the region pushed the $600-million project back to 2024 amidst the budget crunch in 2015.

York is waiting for environmental assessment approval from the province.

In the meantime, the region has committed $72 million in its budget to keep preliminary work on the project moving forward.

The sewage system is instrumental in allowing East Gwillimbury to grow from today’s population of 24,000 to about 108,700 in 2041.

During the election campaign, the Liberals promised to increase infrastructure spending by an average of $6 billion per year during the next 10 years.

The money is supposed to be spread equally between public transit projects, green infrastructure such as wastewater facilities, and social infrastructure such as affordable housing.