Ontario nominates Ring of Fire infrastructure for Build Canada funding

Ontario is formally asking the federal government to match its $1-billion transportation infrastructure investment in the Ring of Fire.

The province nominated the mineral rich region as one of its "priority transit projects" for Build Canada funding.

Ontario's Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle said the province needs federal money to achieve its long-term development goals in the area.

"This is a project that isn't simply about building a road to a mine, or building access to a mine site," he said.

"It's also about opening up the north, and about opening up community access. That is very much where I think the federal government has a very clear role to play and can be very, very helpful in terms of providing significant resources," said Gravelle.

He said he doesn't know when Ottawa will decide which infrastructure projects will receive Build Canada funding.

Four rail corridors in southern Ontario have also been nominated for consideration. They are:

• Lakeshore West and East rail corridors
• Kitchener rail corridor
• Barrie rail corridor
• Union Station rail corridor signal upgrades.