The OMPF has announced their program funding through 2020.

Communities such as Kapuskasing and Hearst will be able to budget for this and the upcoming year a little more simply after Minister of Finance Vic Fedeli says the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund program funding will be staying the same through 2020.

Fedeli penned a letter to municipalities that spoke about recognizing that communities are late into their municipal budget year. Therefore, the OMPF will be maintaining its current structure and providing some certainty for any municipalities finalizing their budgets.

Kapuskasing Mayor Dave Plourde says this move allows them to build their budgets with more certainty.

“What it does is it allows us to budget for this year, I mean were late in the season already and that is what the government is saying, they’re saying basically that they recognize we are all going through the budget process and they want to make sure that even though that the cuts aren’t final we’re going to secure the same amount as we had last year.”

Plourde says allocating for 2020 is also a considerable help for Kapuskasing.

“That is huge for us because it really allows us to plan for the future and we appreciate the fact that the government kept it the same, it does help us, considerably actually.”

This comes in the form of guaranteeing that northern and rural municipalities who need funding the most will be ensured that it will remain virtually the same as 2018.

Due to being under review from the provincial government, the OMPF has committed to announcing funding for 2020 so municipalities have the proper time to plan their budgets.