Northern Groups Apply for Millions

Northern Groups Apply for Millions

Tuesday, July 06, 2004 at 14:49

 

 

A total of 15 groups have applied for funding under the multi-million-dollar Northern Development Agreement.

 

The 5-year, 20-million-dollar agreement was signed by the province and Ottawa in 2002 as a way to help northern communities create jobs, develop infrastructure and attract outside investment.

 

The deadline for the latest call for proposals was June 30th.

 

Last year, 9 groups received a total of just over 3 million dollars in funding.

 

Northern Development Board CEO Dean Desjarlais says the 15 groups are requesting a total of 4.7 million dollars in funding for projects that have a combined cost of just over 21 million dollars.

 

Desjarlais says his group probably won’t be able to fund all the proposals, but also points out there will be many more opportunities to apply for funding.

 

The board received about 4 times as many proposals in last year’s call for applications, but Desjarlais figures the number is down because groups know calls for applications will go out more often this year.

 

Desjarlais says proposals for training dollars continue to be the most common type of funding application.