Grant Alignment with Provincial Regulatory Requirements

Subject Infrastructure
Year 2022
Status Adopted - Active
Sponsor - Mover
Okotoks, Town of
Sponsor - Seconder
High River, Town of
Active Clauses

IT IS THEREFORE RESOLVED THAT Alberta Municipalities advocate for the Government of Alberta to align grant funding and regulatory provisions through creating a one window approach for municipalities to remove barriers, reduce red tape, and improve the delivery of government services at the municipal level across the province for all municipalities. 

Whereas Clauses

WHEREAS the Government of Alberta provides public funding through grant programs for municipal government initiatives of importance to all Albertans;

WHEREAS the Government of Alberta sets out rules that municipalities must follow through legislation and regulations;

WHEREAS the provisions for grant programs and regulations may not align and/or the decision making authority for the awarding of funding and regulatory requirements conflict or hinder the completion of either projects and/or regulatory compliance or grant funding of same; and 

WHEREAS the misalignment of grants and regulatory requirements can restrict growth of initiatives or programs and unnecessarily create barriers for municipalities.

Resolution Background

The Government of Alberta has stated that:

 “Red tape reduction is a key part of Alberta’s Recovery Plan to create jobs, encourage investment and strengthen the economy.  By keeping taxes low, cutting red tape and   acting on Alberta’s Recovery Plan, the government is reducing needless regulations and processes to further enhance Alberta’s competitiveness, which will drive new           investment and growth across the economy.”

By aligning grant funding with regulatory provisions and authority in a one-window approach, needless red tape will be removed such as redundant processes and rules that do not provide any extra protections.  This includes all information relative to a single project, in a single application, to a single authority and ensures that grant approvers and permit approvals have all the information applicable to the project. An example of this is with the Alberta Municipal Water/Wastewater Partnership that provides funding for infrastructure upgrades and is administered under Alberta Transportation. However, the projects themselves are regulated under Alberta Environment and Parks, and therefore any project requiring funding must go through both ministries. 

A similar situation existed with the 2019 Municipal Community Generation Challenge that awarded funding for municipal renewable energy generation projects but did not verify or provide a strategy to ensure that projects that received grant funding through this initiative would receive Ministerial approval to then sell the energy produced through these projects. The projects that were approved did receive funding and approval, however, the complexity and uncertainty that came with the conflict impacted project design.

Reducing red tape and aligning funding and permit approvals will save time, money, and resources for both applicants and approving authorities, while still providing the same protections and upholding fiscal accountability. This will make it easier for municipalities to access grant funding while reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens. The alignment of regulatory requirements and decision-making for the same grants will further allow municipalities to invest back into our communities and grow in a timely and efficient manner.
 

Alberta Municipalities notes

This resolution aligns with Alberta Municipalities’ ongoing advocacy on red tape reduction and streamlining regulations. This resolution will be forwarded to the Government of Alberta for response and further advocacy would be recommended to ABmunis’ Board by the Sustainability and Environment Committee within the context of related priorities and positions.