Feds to spend $88.6M to upgrade, replace First Nation, Inuit police facilities

OTTAWA—Policing facilities in Indigenous communities across the country are about to undergo a series of upgrades.

The federal government announced it will spend $88.6 million over seven years, beginning in 2018-2019, to repair, renovate and replace policing facilities owned by First Nation and Inuit communities.

In the first phase of the project, beginning immediately, communities with policing facilities that require urgent repairs will be contacted to access program funding over the next two years.

Anticipated to get underway in 2020-2021, the second phase will see projects selected for funding based on the results of a professional assessment of the facilities and a set of “national merit criteria.”

Ottawa plans to launch a bidding process for professional assessment of the facilities in the coming months. This assessment will inform the selection of phase two infrastructure projects.