Province flows $70M to Collingwood, New Tecumseth for water plant

The province announced its biggest spend in Collingwood today (Sept. 26) with a $70-million cheque for the water treatment plant. 

Simcoe-Grey MPP Brian Saunderson was at Collingwood Town Hall on Thursday to announce that the town would be receiving $70 million from the first round of provincial Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund to be applied to the $270 million cost for the expansion of the Raymond A. Barker Water Treatment Plant.

Collingwood Mayor Yvonne Hamlin and New Tecumseth Mayor Richard Norcross considered the announcement music to their ears.

“We are thrilled and excited. This demonstrates that partnerships actually do work,” said Norcross. “When you work together with all levels of government, good things will happen.”

Saunderson said the funding program was “oversubscribed” with applications from municipalities across the province.

In total, the provincial government is doling out $970 million to projects across the province, with the upper limit of funding expected in the $35 million range per successful municipality. Since Collingwood and New Tecumseth applied together, the upset limit was doubled.

“There are some larger municipalities who got more than $35 million, but based on the 54 projects I’ve seen, this is one of the highest, if not the highest,” Saunderson told Village Media.

As of now, the entire cost of the Raymond A. Barker water treatment plant expansion project is expected in the $270 million range, with an estimated date of completion in 2031 and more water capacity available as of August 2029.

The costs of the expansion are shared between Collingwood and New Tecumseth. Both municipalities signed on the dotted line to move to the construction phase of the project with Kenaidan Contracting Inc. earlier this year, without a firm commitment from either the federal or provincial governments for assistance in funding the expansion.

The plant expansion is mostly planned to be paid for through development charges. Just this past July, the town passed new development charge rates, which saw rates double in many cases due to the water treatment plant expansion costs. At that time, the development community raised concerns that the cost would make housing more unaffordable.

This funding windfall from the province will mean that Collingwood and New Tecumseth can now lower their development charge rates moving forward.

“The province has been clear that the cost of housing is impacting negatively on the ability of builders to construct houses,” said Hamlin. “We want to do our part to lower the cost of building houses so more can be built.”

“We’ll be looking at our development charges bylaw as soon as we can,” she added.