Community Infrastructure Replacement

It's no secret that the City's infrastructure is in dire need of attention. We've developed this page as a landing spot for the community to find updates on local infrastructure projects, to provide an opportunity to ask questions of City staff, and as an avenue to share information and collect feedback on infrastructure priorities.

There is a lot currently going on with respect to City infrastructure upgrades, and we are working to be as transparent with information as possible. If there's a question you have, or project you'd like to know more about, please don't hesitate to reach out in the Questions area below, or by contacting our Communications Office.

Contact information:
Veronika Stewart, Manager of Communications, Engagement and Social Development
(250) 627 0976
veronika.stewart@princerupert.ca

What is the scope of the problem?

Due to the age and condition of municipal infrastructure, Prince Rupert has a significant amount of infrastructure, especially in our water/sewer/road utilities, that should be replaced in the near future, as it is past life expectancy. Estimates place the total cost for current replacement needs at over $600 million, broken down by infrastructure type in the figure below.

Infrastructure Replacement Need

These overwhelming figures exists despite the fact the City has been making headway to renew critical water and waste infrastructure through the replacement of both our 100 year old dam, and development of a new landfill cell.

Although many communities across Canada have high infrastructure needs, Prince Rupert has additional revenue challenges unique to our community - including the restrictive nature of the Port Property Tax Act on our industrial taxation capacity, instability of Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) payments from the Prince Rupert Port Authority, and the requirement to subsidize the airport ferry by over $1 million/year.

So, what's the plan for infrastructure?

To address known infrastructure needs head on - the City has commissioned an Infrastructure Replacement Strategy based on known age and condition of City infrastructure - specifically focusing on water pipes, which has both the highest likelihood and highest impact of failure. This strategy will be shared over the coming months, and will set the trajectory and priority for future infrastructure spending over the next five years. This process had been initiated prior to the Local State of Emergency, because the City is keenly aware of the escalating need to address local infrastructure. In addition to developing the strategy, the City has also been advocating for additional resourcing from higher levels of Government to implement it. The City has recently been successful in obtaining a $65 million dollar commitment from the Province for replacement of underground water pipes - which is the largest single financial commitment our municipality has ever seen, and a major step in addressing our priority water pipes. The City has also gone through the process to approve borrowing of $45 million for our contribution to the project, and has now received funding approval from the Federal government for $77 million. This funding will support us in replacing 26 km of high risk/high likelihood of failure water and sewer mains. This will be a major undertaking that will get us ahead of the near-constant failures our water system currently experiences. Unfortunately, if we had conducted replacements in any of the areas that have failed prior to receiving approval of Federal funding, that work won’t be eligible for funding, transferring a bigger burden of the overall program costs to residents. Although staff and Council have been expending significant energy to get additional revenues through a Resource Benefits Agreement - which was announced in the 2024 Provincial Budget, resolution to port tax caps and payments in lieu of taxes, and development of Watson Island, potential revenues from these sources are still uncertain for 2024.

In December of 2022, City Council also adopted a related Asset Management Policy and Roadmap that is helping to support the development of the Replacement Plan. (It's the "how" to our Infrastructure Replacement Strategy's "what"). You can find that in the "Documents" section of this page. Following the adoption of the policy, our newly elected Council held their first strategic planning session to set about prioritizing community needs for the next few years. The 2023-2025 Strategic Plan has now been finalized and presented to Council, which includes significant infrastructure priorities. To help support community understanding, we've highlighted some of the key infrastructure projects that we've pulled from the report and listed below. (Please note - the Strategic Plan addresses more than just infrastructure - and tackles a broad picture of community needs. See Document Section for the full Strategic Plan document).

What are the main infrastructure areas that the City is addressing within our strategic plan for 2023-2025?

The following is a list of key infrastructure priorities identified in the City's Strategic Plan for 2023-2025:

• Complete and implement Asset Management and Infrastructure Replacement Strategies, as well as streamlined asset data collection policy.
  • Project Status: An asset age/condition inventory as well as replacement priority for water infrastructure has now been completed that identifies the top 26 km for replacement. The City has now successfully advocated for $65 Million in funding from the Province of BC that will be directed towards replacing water distribution infrastructure. To support the full plan, the City has now successfully achieved $77.2 million in committed Federal funding to support the most critical replacement work, including for support to replace sewer works that are in the same areas. To be eligible for Federal funding also required borrowing on the City side, and Council has now completed the process to approve borrowing of $5 Million for design works and $40 Million for sewer works through an Alternative Approval Process (AAP). Additional information on the priority areas is available in the Document section.
• Proceed with pursuing water treatment for the City and securing sufficient funding
  • Project Status: Under way - with $20 million in secured grant funding - however due to cost escalations, anticipated to be a minimum of $12 million more than the $30 million originally budgeted. This project is unfortunately on pause until additional funding can be secured. Additional questions regarding this project are answered in the FAQ Section.
• Proceed with developing sanitary sewer treatment and securing sufficient funding
  • Project Status: Applied for grant to introduce sewage wetland treatment system in the area adjacent to Moresby Pond (originally proposed for the Omineca Avenue area), servicing approximately 100 homes. (For more information - see the video, right). This project has gone out to bid, and will commence before the end of the summer of 2024.
• Continued relocation of Public Works
  • Project Status: Under way. Initial construction started in 2023, with a request for a design/build proposal posted to BC Bid in February. Relocation required due to current facility conditions.
• Continued construction of the RCMP building
  • Project Status: Mandated, and under way with the award for construction granted to Coast Tsimshian Northern Contractors Alliance (CTNCA). Occupancy of the building is anticipated in the Fall of 2024. For more information, check out our project page.
• Explore and pursue development of a new Fire Hall Building (subject to securing adequate funding and priority review).
  • Project Status: Currently very early in the process of determining potential costs, scope and partnership opportunities for this project.
• Continue to pursue negotiations and advocacy with the Federal and Provincial Government to ensure the City has the revenue sources required to run the city and service industry.
  • Project Status: Under way - The City has had several meetings over the past few months with Provincial representatives to advocate for additional revenues to address critical infrastructure needs, as well as the limitations on our ability to collect fairer revenues from certain local industry. In the 2024 Budget, the Province committed $250 million over 5 years to be shared among Northwest communities. The City is still in the process of working with neighbour municipalities to determine how those funds will be allocated between us.

What has the City already been doing to address the deficit?

Our primary focus has been the replacement of the 100 year old dam and supporting infrastructure - with the City now in the process of engineering and design for water treatment. In conversations with Northern Health and the Province, it was well understood that securing the water supply at its source was the first priority, because without renewal of the dam, the entire supply would be at risk.

Alongside critical water source infrastructure renewal, in the past 5 years, we've managed to address the following infrastructure needs, based on a phased approach that dealt with what were considered some of our most critical, or mandated needs first:

• Completed and commission a new 40+ year landfill cell
• Completed Phases 1 and 2 of our waterworks project - the replacement and burial of a major section of the watermain that goes from our Woodworth Lake dam down towards Shawatlans Lake, and construction of an access road; Once the access road was complete, the City and our contractors completed the replacement of our 100 year old dam. (For additional information, see our update videos in the right column)
• Initiated the mandated replacement of the RCMP Station, securing a $25 million loan to complete the project. (For additional information, go to our project page)
• Increased our roads budget, however this is still a priority area that will need additional funding to get ahead of necessary repairs and improve overall road conditions;

Despite the above-noted efforts, significant investments continue to be needed in all areas of our local infrastructure to ensure the continued livability of Prince Rupert for Rupertites and to support projected economic growth.