Premier Scott Moe has announced that the Saskatchewan government will be implementing a two-year capital plan to rebuild the province’s economy after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The plan will invest now $7.5 billion in funding, which is an increase of $2 billion from the existing capital plan.
In a press release, Moe said the funding will be put into schools, hospitals, municipal infrastructure, highways, Crown utility projects, and other important projects “designed to build a strong Saskatchewan.”
There is more than $300 million allocated for highways projects, $200 million for health infrastructure, and $135 million for education infrastructure.
The plan is committing to using the additional $2 billion in funding to jump-start economic activity that will get people back to work quickly, by helping with long-term, large scale projects in numerous sectors over the next several years.
Upgrades to municipal roads and airports will receive $46 million, while another $150 million per capital will be given out to infrastructure projects throughout the province through the new Municipal Support Enhancement Program.
“The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) is very pleased that the province has made the Infrastructure Stimulus announcement today,” said SARM President Ray Orb, in a press release. “Investing in municipal infrastructure projects will help rural municipalities in rural Saskatchewan and will certainly help the provincial economy to recover.”
This announcement follows the March 18 announcement of government’s 2020-21 Estimates, which promised $2.7 billion in committed capital funding. The government has also committed to providing $2.8 billion in Crown and executive government capital spending through the 2021-22 fiscal year, for a total of $5.5 billion in capital funding over the next two years.
Statistics Canada estimates that the new funding supports are expected to support around 10,000 jobs in the province, depending on the size and duration of each new project.
