The federal government is inviting the City of Vancouver to apply for up to $20 million in funding for natural infrastructure projects to support the city’s strategy to capture and clean rainfall with natural solutions.
As a part of the government’s new, $200 million Natural Infrastructure Fund, select major cities with innovative natural infrastructure strategies are being invited to apply for funding of up to $20 million under the Large Project Stream, in support of their work.
Vancouver’s Rain City Strategy has a goal to capture and treat 90 per cent of its annual rainfall using a combination of green rainwater infrastructure and conventional pipe systems. The strategy uses natural infrastructure such as absorbent landscaping, tree trenches, and green roofs, to prevent urban flooding and improve water quality. This includes the Wetland at Hinge Park in Southeast False Creek, which manages two thirds of the street rainwater runoff from the Olympic Village neighbourhood, while providing rich habitat and biodiversity within the park. The strategy outlines a series of actions to improve water quality in the natural environment, increase the resilience to climate change, and enhance natural ecosystems
“In Vancouver, climate adaptation and nature-based solutions go hand in hand. The latest evolution of this work is the Rain City Strategy, our ambitious plan to capture and clean 90 per cent of Vancouver’s annual rainfall with nature-based solutions. This fund will help cities like Vancouver scale up nature-based solutions to the climate emergency, while creating thousands of green jobs and beautiful urban spaces at the same time,” said Kennedy Stewart, Mayor, City of Vancouver.
Under the Natural Infrastructure Fund, a second stream will be created to enable provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous organizations and others to apply for funding for smaller natural infrastructure projects under an open and merit-based selection process. More details about the launch of the Small Project Stream will follow. A minimum of 10 per cent of the overall program envelope will be allocated to Indigenous recipients.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Infrastructure Canada has approved more than 3,600 projects, representing more than $9.9 billion in federal investments, under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.
