Fort Erie water infrastructure project to receive provincial funding
August 13, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Funding from Queen’s Park will help upgrade water and stormwater infrastructure along Walden Boulevard.
The Fort Erie project was one of six in Niagara to receive funding during an announcement in Niagara Falls Monday by Ontario Minister of Infrastructure Kinga Surma, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness Trevor Jones and Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff.
All told, the province announced $135 million in water-related funding, including $95 million earmarked for Niagara.
Locally, the province is providing $2.2 million for upgrades along Walden Boulevard.
There are 375 metres of planned watermain replacement, as well as 250 metres of watermain extension.
There are also 580 metres of new storm sewer installation and 200 metres of PVC sanitary sewer extension to support future development frontage, according to a press release issued by the town on Tuesday.
“The upkeep and improvement of our critical municipal infrastructure, especially our water and wastewater systems, is one of the top concerns for municipalities right across Ontario,” said regional chair Jim Bradley at the Monday announcement.
Since it’s mostly underground, water infrastructure can often be an afterthought, but it’s crucial to maintain a growing and thriving community, officials said.
“Keeping all those pipes, plants and pumping stations running smoothly and efficiently is not easy or cheap. It’s also not always top of mind for property tax payers,” Bradley said.
The bulk of the funding announced for Niagara on Monday aims to support home building efforts in the region. It comes through the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program’s (MHIP) Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund (HEWSF) stream.
The Fort Erie project will help enable construction of close to 300 housing units.
“It’s about a little more than a year’s worth of housing starts for us, so once we get this project completed that permits some developments that have already been approved but have been on hold because of the lack of infrastructure the ability to proceed,” Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop said in an interview with Fort Erie Radio on Tuesday.
The units are all either approved or going through the application process.
“Right now there’s some housing units that are on hold until we can get this work done, so this is extremely important for us and it allows us to continue to provide the housing that the people in our community need,” said Redekop.
The town is hoping to get the project started this fall.
“We want to get that thing moving because that does free up the potential of those 297 units,” he said.
The mayor credited town staff with “doing a great job identifying the needs and identifying solutions and then putting together applications for us to get the funding that we need.”
All told, the six projects being supported are expected to enable 14,000 new homes to be built in Niagara.
During the announcement, the province also said it will be providing $41 million to support Niagara’s irrigation project, which will build an irrigation system in the rural area from western St. Catharines to Beamsville, below the escarpment, and upgrade an existing open channel irrigation system in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
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About The Author
Luke Edwards
Luke Edwards is a longtime Niagara community journalist who has covered a variety of beats, including business, agriculture, the wine industry and politics. When not writing, there's a good chance he can be found at a baseball diamond or curling rink.
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