Whereas local government in British Columbia are increasingly reliant on a wide variety of grant programs to support the delivery of services, programs and projects in their jurisdictions; And whereas the investment in developing projects and programs, completing grant applications and delivering projects and programs is increasingly time consuming and complex which all require significant investment of front end resources by local governments and the resulting delays in waiting for granting decisions add cost and delay project delivery resulting in inefficiencies at all levels of government and do not maximize the value of public funds that are utilized for these purposes; And whereas grant funds for many programs and projects are better suited to be distributed to local governments on a non-application based granting basis: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM encourage the government of British Columbia to work with its federal counterparts to identify and expand grants that are more efficiently and effectively delivered on an non-application basis similar to the Community Works Fund and for those application based grant programs, that the delivery program of the provincial and federal governments be reviewed to increase certainty for local governments and reduce the costs and delays that are inherent in the current application based grant funding programs.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs The province uses different delivery models for distributing funds to local governments. The Ministry understands the importance of programs such as the Canada Community Building Fund Community Works Fund that allow local governments flexibility in identifying priorities and will continue to engage with partners including the Union of BC Municipalities and the federal government on continued support. Application based programs provide an opportunity for funding to support projects that are larger in scale or scope for a community than a direct allocation model and are designed to provide strategic funding to address specific needs. The province recognizes the benefit of efficient program timelines for application-based programs as they impact local government decisions on prioritization of long-term investments on infrastructure assets. The province will continue to advocate for more streamlined requirements and approval processes for future federal-provincial funding programs. While there is a need for technical assessment of projects to ensure program criteria are met and risks are managed, this is balanced by the need for responsiveness. While program oversubscription shows the high level of demand for funding, infrastructure programs are not established to replace asset management practices, long term financial planning and the use of reserves, debt financing, and DCCs. Local governments are expected to develop infrastructure priorities in a long-term capital plan and submit applications when there is alignment between a programs outcomes and the proponents capital plan priorities. Local priorities should not shift based on availability of a grant program intake. On February 10, 2023 the province announced the Growing Communities Fund. The Growing Communities Fund will provide a one-time total of 1 billion in grants to all 188 of BCs municipalities and regional districts, which they can use to address their communitys unique infrastructure and amenities demands - such as recreation facilities, parks and water treatment plants, as well as other community infrastructure. It will help communities prepare for future growth and build the amenities needed to support new home construction, especially with the Housing Supply Act where targets are set. These grants will complement existing infrastructure funding such as sewer, water and recreation facilities and will be distributed to BCs 188 municipalities and regional districts by the end of March 2023.