The governments of Canada and Quebec are providing joint funding to transform a municipal building in the Municipality of Morin-Heights into a community centre.

Both the federal and provincial governments will be contributing $533,333 for the transformation, as part of the New Building Canada Fund, Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component – Small Communities Fund. The Municipality of Morin-Heights will also invest $533,333, bringing the total investment in the project to over $1.6 million.

The project involves transforming a municipal building into a community centre that can accommodate skiers and snowshoe enthusiasts in the winter, and cyclists in the summer, while developing multi-purpose rooms to host recreational and cultural activities. The centre will also house storage spaces and administrative offices.

“We are delighted that the governments of Quebec and Canada are supporting us in order to provide Morin-Heights citizens with a community gathering place in the centre of our municipality. The cultural and sporting needs of seniors and youth will therefore be met at a reasonable cost,” said Tim Watchorn, Mayor of Morin-Heights, in a press release. “I would like to thank our provincial member, Yves St-Denis, and our Member of Parliament, Stéphane Lauzon, who have believed in our project and worked steadfastly with their colleagues to great success.”

The goal of the Small Communities Fund is to provide financial support to Canadian municipalities with less than 100,000 residents to develop infrastructure that can enhance the community through culture, sport, recreation and tourism or to safeguard public assets. As part of the federal budget for 2017, $21.9 billion has been proposed to support social infrastructure in Canadian communities.