The Yukon and Ottawa have signed an agreement that will see millions of dollars pumped into infrastructure in the communities and Whitehorse.

Yukon MP Larry Bagnell and Community Services Minister Currie Dixon joined Amarjeet Sohi, the federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, in Ottawa today to announce a joint investment of $69.7 million.

The money will be used for water and wastewater projects across the territory, and public transit in Whitehorse.

The money will go toward 22 projects in Dawson City, Faro, Little Salmon-Carmacks First Nation, Watson Lake, Haines Junction, Carmacks, Mayo, Marsh Lake, Ross River, Old Crow, Tagish and Whitehorse.

The federal government will contribute $52,280,275 and the territory will put up the estimated $17.4 million remaining.

“These funds not only increase the overall funding for water and wastewater infrastructure and public transit that we can deliver to Yukon communities, they will also create more work and provide welcome economic stimulus for the construction industry and for our communities,” Dixon said in a statement.

Ottawa’s contribution comes out of the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund, and the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund.

The former was set up to provide communities with reliable drinking water and systems for processing wastewater.

Money from the fund will go toward upgrades and bringing existing systems into a state of good repair.

Mayo, for example, will get $5.2 million for upgrades to its water and wastewater line.

Beyond improving the reliability of Mayo’s drinking water and wastewater treatment, these upgrades will also work to protect the environment surrounding this line.

“I said today to the people in Ottawa, in Ottawa they take for granted having clean water in working sewers,” Bagnell said in an interview early this afternoon. “But in some of the rural communities, there’s a lot of work to be done.”

He also noted that “what’s exciting about (the new investment) is it funds some of the projects that would have come out of the new Build Canada Fund so that frees up some money there.”

Two projects will begin this year: construction of a new water line to the firehall in Tagish, and a project that will connect equipment in water treatment plants in unincorporated communities to a central computer system, so they can be monitored remotely.

Construction will begin on the remaining 20 projects in 2017, said Dixon. In the meantime, money will go toward planning, engineering and design work on these projects.

The $69.7 million was made retroactively available to April 1, meaning it can cover the costs of projects that began in April, May or June.

Under the agreement, Whitehorse will benefit from $890,000 for busing, thanks to money from the federal Public Transit Infrastructure Fund.

It’s worth noting that Keno City is not on the list of communities to receive funding.

Residents in Keno have been without clean drinking water for nearly a year, after the area well was damaged.

Since then, water has been trucked into the community of about 20 residents, three times a week, from Mayo.

“We haven’t made a decision about what to do with the well at this point,” Dixon told the Star today, when asked why Keno wasn’t picked for funding.

“These projects were based on the Yukon infrastructure plan that we developed last year.”

The new federal investments in the Yukon are part of the Liberal government’s plan to spend $120 billion on infrastructure projects across the country over the next 10 years.

Some of this money will be drawn from a fund set up by the previous Conservative government, said Sohi.

Other provinces and territories are set to pen similar infrastructure deals to the Yukon’s in the coming days.

The federal government has also made it easier for less populated regions like the Yukon to apply for funding from pools of money set aside for large infrastructure projects.

“The Government of Canada recognizes that we need a solid partnership with all orders of government to support infrastructure and create good, well-paying jobs that can help the middle class grow and prosper today,” Sohi said in a press release.

Dixon noted that the Yukon is the first jurisdiction in Canada to receive funding from the Cleanwater and Wastewater Fund, something he and Highways and Public Works Minister Scott Kent lobbied hard for in Ottawa.

“We couldn’t have signed this agreement without the strong partnership with the Government of Canada, and for it to be the first of its kind in the country, is something I’m very proud of,” said the MLA for Copperbelt North, who announced last week he will not be seeking re-election.

For a full list of infrastructure projects approved in the Yukon, visit http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1089399.