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COVID-19: Feds, province announce $656M fund to improve air quality in public buildings

Dollars will fund projects for ventilation systems, hand hygiene stations and better physical distancing
2020 school lockers generic
Photo courtesy CSPNE.

This morning, the federal government and the Ontario government announced a new fund to support infrastructure projects that will make public buildings, particularly schools, safer during this pandemic and any future pandemics.

The $656.5 million can be used for infrastructure projects to upgrade ventilation systems, create hand-washing stations, make physical distancing easier and fund other projects to make buildings safer for the public by making it harder for virus transmission to occur.

The announcement was made by federal Infrastructure and Communities Minister Catherine McKenna, along with Ontario Infrastructure Minister Laurie Scott and Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce.

While the fund is for all public buildings, schools are a particular target.

“The majority of funding will support ventilation projects that improve air quality in classrooms across the province,” a media release states, for projects including HVAC renovations to improve air quality, installing water bottle refilling stations to improve access to safe drinking water, investing in network and broadband infrastructure to support remote learning, and space reconfigurations such as new walls and doors to enhance physical distancing.

McKenna also announced an additional $150 million for ventilation projects for all provinces, territories and Indigenous communities “to reduce the risk of airborne transmission of COVID-19 in public buildings like schools and hospitals.”

The funding is part of the effort to “build back better” and make physical improvements to public buildings based on lessons learned during the pandemic.

“This is part of building back better,” McKenna said, “because there probably will be another pandemic.”

Of the $150 million, $30 million is specifically earmarked for projects in Indigenous communities.

Of the $656 million, the federal government is providing $525.2 million, while the province is kicking in $131.1 million.

Lecce said projects will be underway in all of the more than 3,800 schools in Ontario. Examples of projects the money will be spent on include improved ventilation systems, no-touch door-opening systems, handwashing stations and water bottle filling stations and more.

You can watch the announcement below.