LONDON, ONT. -- The province has begun distributing millions of dollars in emergency relief meant to help communities deal with the impacts of COVID-19.
The funds for Ontario’s 444 municipalities come from both the provincial and federal governments.
City and towns across the province have been under serious financial pressure as a result of the pandemic.
As part of the Safe Restart Agreement, London will get just under $22 million, to go along with almost $19 million dedicated to transit that had been previously announced, for a total of nearly $40.5 million.
Acting London Mayor Josh Morgan says, "This is a good day. This is a day we've been waiting for, for a while. And it's really a day to thank our provincial and federal partners for coming through when we needed it. They've heard the call of municipalities, they've heard the challenges we've had and they've delivered some important relief for us today."
Other local municipalities will also see substantial funding:
- Town of Aylmer, $184,400
- Municipality of Bayham, $164,100
- Municipality of Central Elgin, $344,700
- Municipality of Dutton Dunwich, $101,000
- County of Elgin, $1,276,000
- Township of Malahide, $195,100
- County of Middlesex, $1,782,700
- Township of Southwold, $107,000
- City of St. Thomas, $2,141,800 and $166,751 to support transit operations (total $2,308,557)
- Municipality of Thames Centre, $315,200
- Municipality of West Elgin, $179,800 and $16,747 to support transit operations (total $196,547)
Jeff Yurek, Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP added, "We're still in the OK area for ensuring the money is still flowing…it's needed to make sure we keep people safe during the pandemic and we support our economic recovery. And that's, in part, ensuring the municipalities are able to continue to do what they do day-in and day-out."
Additional funding is set to be made available starting this fall.
