Booming Alberta Announces 20-Year Plan for Infrastructure Spending

The [Provincial] government [of Alberta] expects Alberta's population will grow from 3.3 million to five million over the next two decades, and its new capital blueprint calls for everything from roads to schools to hospitals to be either expanded or built in the debt-free province. The plan, which the Premier billed as having a "strong urban focus," also commits to further investigating long-discussed efforts to connect Edmonton and Calgary with a bullet train.

[From the official news release]:

"The Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) established in Budget 2007, will deliver a 10-year program totaling almost $10.8 billion in capital support.

This historic funding arrangement, ushered in by Premier Stelmach, will provide municipalities with more flexibility as to how they spend their MSI funds in subsequent years. It fulfills the Premier's commitment to all Alberta municipalities to address growth pressures.

The plan outlines the Alberta government's commitment to complete ring roads in Calgary and Edmonton, and calls for land negotiations to commence now for outer freeways.

The Alberta government has committed to an affordable housing strategy that will support development of 11,000 affordable housing units over the next five years, in response to the Alberta Affordable Housing Task Force report."