The City of Kitchener has received $49.9 Million in funding from the Government of Canada for a stormwater management system that will help protect residents from the effects of heavy rainfalls.

The project will add stormwater drainage controls in some neighbourhoods and redesign a natural channel to help manage heavy rainfalls. The project will also upgrade the Bridgeport Dyke and replace a section of the popular Walter Bean Grand River Trail.

The funding for the stormwater management system was announced by Bardish Chagger, leader of the government in the House of Commons, and Berry Vrbanovic, mayor of Kitchener.

“Taking concrete steps to adapt to the impacts of climate change is essential to ensuring a prosperous future for our kids and grandkids,” said Chagger. “By investing in this important flood protection project, we are helping better protect Kitchener residents against flooding and greatly reduce the costs of recovery following extreme weather incidents.”

Once completed, this project will protect over 11,500 residents in the Kitchener-Waterloo region from flooding, reducing the number of people directly affected by 75 per cent. The project is expected to reduce local economic losses by 80 per cent.

“As a leader amongst Canadian municipalities in stormwater management since 2001, the City of Kitchener understands that the growing impacts of climate change pose a serious risk to our city’s infrastructure and threatens the delivery of essential services that our residents rely on,” said Vrbanovic. “This significant investment from the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund will help ensure our critical infrastructure can withstand these severe weather events and protect Kitchener residents. I applaud our federal government partners for working with us as we tackle climate change together.”

The Government of Canada is investing over $49.9 million in this project through the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund. The City of Kitchener is contributing over $72 million, with additional funding from the Grand River Conservation Authority.

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