The governments of Canada and Quebec announced more than $32.2 million in funding for the construction of a water treatment plant in Drummondville.
“This investment will provide residents with safe and modern water treatment facilities to support their long-term health,” said Élisabeth Brière, parliamentary secretary to the minister of economic development and official languages. “Canada’s infrastructure plan is investing in thousands of projects, creating jobs across the country and building stronger communities.”
The new infrastructure will be built on land adjacent to the current plant, meaning that the existing underground water tanks can be leveraged and the drinking water system configuration can be preserved. Thanks to leading-edge technologies, including biological filtration and ozonation, the new plant will have a daily treatment capacity of 69,500 m³ of drinking water. Landscaping work is also planned to move a bicycle path and convert the remaining area into green space. Construction is expected to begin in late summer 2021 and should not affect current services.
“The quality of water and drinking water services are of primary importance to our government,” said Andrée Laforest, minister of municipal affairs and housing. “Throughout Quebec, we are supporting cities and municipalities in upgrading their infrastructure to better meet residents’ needs. We can be proud of projects such as the construction of this new treatment plant in Drummondville, which will support not only the well-being of residents, but also the region’s economic health.”
The federal government is investing over $16.1 million in this project under the Green Infrastructure stream of the Investing in Canada Plan. The Government of Quebec is also investing more than $16.1 million through the Fonds pour l’infrastructure municipale d’eau (FIMEAU) funding program.
These federal-provincial contributions are in addition to the investment of $637.8 million announced by the governments of Canada and Quebec on August 20, 2020, to upgrade the province’s water infrastructure.