Antigonish County, Nova Scotia, July 19, 2022—Today, the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, on behalf of the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities; Mike Kelloway, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard and Member of Parliament for Cape Breton—Canso; the Honourable Michelle Thompson, Minister of Health and Wellness, on behalf of the Honourable Tory Rushton, Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables; and Owen McCarron, Warden of the Municipality of the County of Antigonish, announced funding for two green community infrastructure projects in Antigonish.
Part of the funding announced today will be used to upgrade nine community buildings, including six community centres, to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions. These improvements include replacing heating systems, lighting, and installing solar panels on each building to reach net-zero energy once the retrofits are completed. The project will offset the municipality’s carbon footprint through the production of a total of 297 kW of renewable solar energy.
Funding will also support improvements to active transportation infrastructure in Antigonish. The project includes the construction of a multi-use pathway along the Trunk 4 transportation corridor between Beech Hill Road and Addington Forks Road. The new pathway system will be approximately five kilometres long and provide opportunities for walking and cycling. Once complete, this project will become part of the Blue Route, a province-wide network of bicycle infrastructure that helps Nova Scotians to travel between communities, stay active, and reduce their carbon footprints.
The Government of Canada is investing more than $9.5 million towards these projects. The Government of Nova Scotia is providing more than $7.4 million and the County of Antigonish is contributing over $2.4 million.
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New Release: Green Infrastructure Improvements to Benefit Residents of Antigonish County
