Today, Taleeb Noormohamed, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville, His Worship Ken Sim, Mayor of the City of Vancouver, and Scott Jensen, Chair of the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, announced a joint investment of more than $36.2 million towards the City of Vancouver's Rain City Strategy, which outlines a series of actions to improve the city's water quality, increase resilience to climate change, and enhance ecosystems.
The Strategy aims to enhance the use of natural infrastructure to prevent urban flooding and improve water quality. Its goal is to capture and clean 90 per cent of Vancouver's average annual rainfall and help manage rainwater runoff from 400,000 square meters of drainage area. Examples include using absorbent landscaping, rainwater tree trenches, wetlands and stream restoration, capturing rainwater closer to where it falls. Ecological processes will serve to remove pollution from urban runoff, improve water quality, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, increase climate change resilience, protect species, and preserve biodiversity and habitats.
The Government of Canada is contributing $18,900,000 to this project, and the City of Vancouver is contributing $17,325,000.
By investing in infrastructure, the Government of Canada is growing our country's economy, increasing the resiliency of our communities, and improving the lives of Canadians.
