Muskoka infrastructure receives $12 million boost from provincial government

Towns across Muskoka are set for a big boost to their infrastructure, as the province announced $12 million in funding for infrastructure improvements across 25 municipalities in the Parry Sound—Muskoka riding Friday morning.

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The funding through the Province’s Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF) will allow the region’s towns to upgrade their roads and sewer systems among other infrastructure improvements.

“Infrastructure is an ongoing challenge for municipalities,” said Graydon Smith, MPP for Parry Sound—Muskoka, following his announcement. “As a province, we really want to make these investments in communities. We know that investing in infrastructure is always something that’s going to push that community to the next level.”

The District of Muskoka and Parry Sound received the largest funding amounts, at $5 million and $1.2 million respectively.

Here are some additional key funding figures that towns within the District of Muskoka will receive:

• Muskoka Lakes: $785,826
• Huntsville: $621,407
• Gravenhurst: $612,930
• Bracebridge: $440,971

The amounts were determined by each community’s needs. The funding will be available to the municipalities in 2025.

“When it comes to roads, bridges, water and wastewater connections, working within that Canadian Shield is a challenge. One-hundred metres of paved road in Muskoka is a lot more expensive than 100 metres of paved road in the GTA,” said Bracebridge Mayor Rick Maloney. “We’re really thankful that the government has continued with its OCIF program.”

“There’s always infrastructure needs in Gravenhurst,” added Gravenhurst Mayor Heidi Lorenz. “This just means that we don’t have to go to the tax base for that.”

OCIF funding from 2024 helped support the Taylor Road surface and watermain reconstruction in Bracebridge which opened earlier in October.

Muskoka Lakes Mayor Peter Kelley also echoed the need for better roads.

“We’ve had a different freeze-thaw cycle which just kills the roads,” said Kelley, “We have a lot of roads that are in really bad shape and limited capacity to fix them out of the local tax levy.”

As councils in Muskoka table their budgets for 2025, decisions on exact funding allocations will be made within the coming weeks.