The Province of Manitoba this month announced plans to basically double support for the Building Sustainable Communities (BSC) program and that’s something Deloraine Winchester Reeve Gord Weidenhamer supports.

The program funds a maximum contribution of 50 per cent of eligible project costs up to a maximum grant of $75,000 to support planning activities, organizational capacity, building projects, community and regional initiatives, and capital infrastructure to extend, improve or enhance existing public-use facilities and spaces. A minimum non-government cash contribution of 10 per cent is also required for all projects except planning projects.

“I know in our community we are looking at things like our swimming pool and these announcements put a positive spin on things. Even though some of the major projects are 50-50 finding grant money makes a huge difference when selling a project to your community. I hope these funds trickle down to the smaller communities but we’ll have to wait and see.”

Weidenhamer says many communities will be taking advantage of the program. His municipality is looking at what to do with an aging swimming pool that has some structural issues.

Launched in 2019, the BSC program gives municipalities and non-profit organizations a single point of access to community grants.

“We’re waiting for the weather to cooperate so we can do some more testing on our pool to see where that facility is at. We have several possibilities to consider but we have lot to do before going in any direction. Once we have our engineers final report we’ll then be able to decide which avenue we want to pursue.”