10 BUILD MANITOBA winnipegconstruction.ca The 2019 federal budget included one very significant item which serves as proof of a current challenge in funding infrastructure – the increase in direct funding to municipalities. The increase in the federal gas tax fund to the municipalities in 2019 will equate to a $2.2 billion transfer, bypassing provincial governments across the country. This change in funding arrangements did not come out of the blue. Earlier in the year the federal Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) released its report on infrastructure investment related to the Investing in Canada plan (IICP) announced in 2016. Federal infrastructure investments require cost sharing with provincial and local governments, making government at the provincial and municipal levels key actors in the IICP. Disappointingly, the PBO’s report’s findings demonstrate that the lack of provincial willingness to match federal dollars has seriously reduced the potential benefit of the plan for Manitoba. FROM OUR POLICY AND RESEARCH MANAGER Is the Capital Funding Model Broken? $- $100,000.00 $200,000.00 $300,000.00 $400,000.00 $500,000.00 $600,000.00 $700,000.00 $800,000.00 $900,000.00 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 CDN Dollars (000s) Manitoba Provincial Government Capital Spend Capital Infrastructure, exc/highways, water Highway Infrastructure Water related infrastructure Figure 1