SMWS: Canada Community-Building Fund delays and acquisition process next steps

With the RDOS Board’s approval, RDOS staff submitted an SMWS application for the Community Building Fund Grant of $7 million in early September.  As of now, no grants have been awarded, and the BCGEU strike will affect the review timelines for grant applications. 

At the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) convention, several RDOS meetings took place with Ministry staff, Ministers, and our local MLAs to advocate for funding for the Sage Mesa Water System. No pre-referendum funds were committed to the RDOS/SMWS by the Province during UBCM.

RDOS staff and I also had the opportunity to speak with the program administrators from UBCM’s Community-Building Fund (CBF), formerly known as the Gas Tax Fund. Community-Building Fund applications can be up to $7 million each. Municipalities may submit one application. Regional Districts can submit up to three applications, each up to $7 million. With 161 municipalities and 27 regional districts in BC, this could result in a total of 242 applications. The RDOS submitted three applications for $7 million each.

Since UBCM’s conclusion, I have had a few informal follow-up conversations with the UBCM program officer and below is a summary of the information gathered.

Grant Requests are Up

• There has been a 25% increase in the number of applications compared to the last intake in 2022.

• The total dollar amount of funding requested has grown by 35%.

• This shows intense competition across BC for infrastructure improvement funding.

Available Funding and Timing

• $119 million is available in this current intake.

• The CBF runs on a 10-year agreement with 2–4 funding intakes during that period.

• Each intake takes significant planning, review, and technical assessment, which means they happen every few years.

  
  

Understanding the “High-Risk” Designation

Since Sage Mesa’s water system remains privately owned, the grant application is likely to be classified as a “high-risk.” This does not automatically disqualify the project. However, the proposal is subject to additional scrutiny, and the review committee will need to justify the appropriateness of allocating oversubscribed grant funds (public money) to a privately owned utility system. Without a set referendum date, the committee will have to provide further justification.

External Factors: BCGEU Strike Impacts

Technical reviews for provincial and infrastructure programs are conducted by staff who are primarily members of the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU). As of October 2025, the BCGEU’s ongoing strike is causing delays across provincial ministries, including those that provide technical evaluations for infrastructure grant applications. UBCM administration has indicated that technical review timelines will be impacted, delaying funding announcements.

Referendum Timeline

Below is a general outline of the timing required to conduct a referendum.

• Three readings of the bylaws by the RDOS Board

• Bylaw to the Province for approval (estimate a two-month turnaround)

• Board appointment of Election officials and establishment of the referendum date

• Statutory advertising, legislated items, advance, and general voting (approximately 3 months to complete)

If the bylaws receive elector assent, the bylaws are returned to the Board for consideration of adoption. Then there is a 30-day quashing period for a loan authorization bylaw before the RDOS can apply to the Province for a Certificate of Approval. This process takes approximately 6-7 months to complete and considers statutory holidays, snowbirds, and school holidays when planning the voting dates.

What happens next? The RDOS Utility Acquisition Process for the Sage Mesa Water System will move forward.

At the next RDOS Board meeting, RDOS staff will recommend that the RDOS board proceed with the acquisition process and set a referendum date (likely mid-April).

At the September community meeting, several ratepayers requested that the referendum be scheduled after funding is confirmed. Before the strike, the timing might have aligned. It takes about six months to establish a referendum date, and it was believed that the grants would be announced in the spring. Due to the BCGEU strike, technical reviews of applications are on hold, and grant announcements are expected to be delayed. Regardless of the grant announcement delay, the acquisition process needs to advance with a referendum date established. The province and some RDOS board members are seeking direction from SMWS ratepayers (through the referendum) on the future of the Sage Mesa Water System, as indicated in last week’s board meeting.

Thank you for reading.

As always, questions and comments are welcome.

Riley

rgettens@rdos.bc.ca

250-488-0246