Canada to Spend $1.5 Billion Over Nine Years on Community Ice Rinks and Recreation Facilities, Highlighted in Sainte-Catherine and Barrie
Canada's Minister of Health Marjorie Michel met with partners and stakeholders in Sainte-Catherine, Quebec, on November 15 to highlight investments in community recreational facilities and ice rinks from Budget 2026: Masters of our destiny. On the same day, Jennifer McKelvie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, met with the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka in Barrie, Ontario, to highlight the same investments.
Budget 2026 proposes to provide $1.5 billion over nine years through the Build Communities Strong Fund to support the construction, expansion, retrofit, and rehabilitation of community recreational facilities and ice rinks across Canada. This includes $750 million for ice rinks and $750 million for other community recreational facilities. The Government of Canada says these investments will help extend the life of aging facilities and ensure communities have modern, welcoming places to come together, compete, train, and play.
Michel said ice rinks and recreational facilities are at the heart of many communities across Canada, including Sainte-Catherine, where Canadians learn to skate, young people gather after school, adults lace up after work, and families and friends gather in the stands, and that making it easier for people of all ages to stay active helps build strong, healthier communities. In Barrie, McKelvie said Budget 2026 proposes investing to build and renew these important community spaces. Jill Tettmann, President and Chief Executive Officer of the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka, said the vision for the new Barrie YMCA Centre of Community has always been about creating a place where people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities can connect, belong and thrive, and thanked the Government of Canada for recognizing that vision.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said being masters of our destiny is about having the confidence to build on Canada's strengths and shape its own future, and that Budget 2026 unlocks investment, strengthens Canada's energy and natural resource advantage, and helps Canadian businesses grow and compete on the world stage to create good jobs and make life more affordable. The budget also keeps Canada on a path to balance day-to-day operating spending with revenues by 2027-28, a full year ahead of schedule, while keeping the deficit-to-GDP ratio on a declining path.
(Source: Government of Canada)
Source: Government of Canada
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：加拿大安大略省 Stayner 的一座社区冰场内景。JFVoll 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Interior of a community arena in Stayner, Ontario, Canada. Photo by JFVoll, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
