Ontario city calls for greater federal investment in region’s flood mitigation

The city officials of Windsor, ON have called on the federal government to invest more into the municipality’s flood mitigation projects, as the cost to rehabilitate infrastructures continues to climb.

Mayor Drew Dilkens, Ward 6 Councillor Jo-Anne Gignac and Windsor West MP Brian Masse have asked the federal government to invest into the city’s Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF), noting that inflation has brought the total cost of the program – aimed at improving roads and sewers, stormwater management, adding pumping stations, and more – to over $87 million above the initial budget, now hitting around $176 million.

“The flooding and damages that affected so many people has certainly not been forgotten in Ward 6. Every time it rains, people call. Are the pumping stations fully functional? Are we going to be able to handle this amount of rainfall?” said Gignac in a recent press conference.

CBC News reported that Windsor’s DMAF program launched in 2018 and is estimated to take until 2028 to complete.

Meanwhile, Masse last Tuesday wrote a letter to Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Dominic LeBlanc, requesting additional funding.

“The City of Windsor has been prone to flooding due to being a low-lying area surrounded by water and subjected to intensified rainfall,” wrote Masse.

“Without the additional federal funding the projects will take significantly longer to complete, leaving residents exposed to more serious property damage and more costly measures to mitigate the effects of climate change.”

Dilkens wrote another letter to Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland last Thursday, explaining that if the federal government does not meet the cost of inflation on the flood mitigation project, the difference would be passed onto residents via sewer surcharge costs.

“The costs have dramatically changed and we can’t cover this alone,” the mayor wrote.

The federal government has been trying to aid other regions in dire need of infrastructure repairs and upgrades to better combat flooding. Earlier this year, it offered over $2.1 million for the city of Peterborough, ON for infrastructure improvements.