The City of Swift Current has been informed that it was unsuccessful in its applications for funding through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Grant Program (ICIP) for Federal and Provincial Government assistance for its proposed Integrated Leisure Facility and Wastewater Collection and Expansion Upgrades Projects.
The applications for funding were prepared and submitted by the City of Swift Current following approval from City Council at a regular meeting that was held on February 10th, 2020. The Integrated Leisure Facility Project was submitted under the Community, Culture and Recreation Stream of the ICIP program, while the Wastewater Collection and Expansion Upgrades Project was submitted under the Green Infrastructure Stream. Canadian municipalities were given the opportunity to submit one project through each stream in 2020.
“It’s obviously disappointing that we were denied funding under this program,” said Swift Current Mayor Denis Perrault. “A lot of effort was put into these applications, and there was a great deal of planning and consultation that occurred prior to us submitting these requests. We believe that these are both worthwhile projects that will benefit the community and region for years to come.”
Mayor Perrault stated that the amount of available funds in Saskatchewan through the ICIP program was much lower than originally anticipated – a change that he feels left the Swift Current projects on the outside looking in when it came to allocating funds.
“We certainly didn’t see as much funding allocated through this program as we originally anticipated,” said Perrault. “That being said, our strategy now is to forge ahead and to work with both the Federal and Provincial Governments to demonstrate the real needs in our region and to understand what steps we can take to attract funding in the future for these vital projects.”
To that end, Mayor Perrault has been meeting regularly with officials from both levels of Government to determine best steps forward.
“We were absolutely hoping to get financial support to move these projects forward, and this is no doubt a setback,” said Perrault. “We’re resolved to keep pushing, to continue to ask that the Southwest not be overlooked when it comes to getting help with our major capital projects. The plan is not to move on, it’s to push forward.”
Swift Current City Council and the City of Swift Current would like to extend their appreciation to the many Southwest Municipalities that demonstrated their support of these projects.
