The federal government is offering some support for Canadian municipalities by accelerating gas tax payments due at the end of the year.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday that instead of breaking the payment into two instalments as it usually is, the full payments will be made available to municipalities.
"We know that cities and towns need this money right away as they deal with COVID-19. That's why we are making the full 2020-2021 payment now," said Trudeau.
He said the federal government continues to work with their provincial counterparts to offer more support to municipalities.
"We know that this is just an initial measure that cities were going to get six months from now anyway but there is a need right now for liquidity for support as they deal with this COVID crisis. But yes, we need to do more and we will do more but doing more needs to happen hand-in-hand with the provinces who have jurisdiction over the municipalities. But I can assure with my conversations with the premiers and in our conversations going forward the federal government will be there to work with the provinces to support the towns and cities we all live in," said Trudeau.
The government is making $2.2 billion available to municipalities through these gas tax payments.