The Ontario government is providing $9,931,000 to the city and county of Peterborough as well as five townships in the county to help cover clean-up and emergency response costs for last spring’s ice storm.
The funding comes from the province’s $90 million Municipal Ice Storm Assistance (MISA) program announced last June.
To qualify for the program, municipalities had to have incurred costs above and beyond their regular budget that were not covered by insurance, pass a council resolution requesting provincial assistance, and apply by the end of last October.
Through the MISA program, the City of Peterborough will receive $7.95 million, the County of Peterborough $676,000, the Municipality of Trent Lakes $503,000, Selwyn Township $373,000, Douro-Dummer Township $301,000, Havelock-Belmont-Methuen Township $79,000, and North Kawartha Township $49,000.
“The ice storm of March 2025 was one of the most significant weather events our region has ever faced, and I saw firsthand the immense strain it placed on our families, businesses, and municipal services,” said Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith in a media release announcing the funding. “While the damage to our tree canopy and power grid was extensive, the spirit of our community remained unbroken.”
Smith added that the provincial assistance will ensure the city and county of Peterborough “have the resources they need to cover emergency costs without placing an undue burden on local taxpayers.”
Under the cost-sharing model of the MISA program, the province reimburses a municipality for 75 per cent of eligible costs up to three per cent of the municipality’s own-purpose taxation (the total tax levied by a municipality), and 95 per cent of eligible costs over three per cent of the municipalities own-purpose taxation. The municipality will cover the remaining portion of costs.
Beginning on March 28, 2025 and continuing for the next two days, the ice storm resulted in widespread damage, downing thousands of trees and hydro lines and leaving more than 1.4 million Hydro One customers without power, including nearly 400,000 homes and businesses in central and eastern Ontario, some for up to a week following the storm.
The hardest-hit areas included Barrie, Orillia, the City of Kawartha Lakes, Peterborough, and Kingston, with 25 millimetres of ice accumulation in Lindsay and 20 millimetres in Peterborough.
Local municipalities declared states of emergency to deal with the aftermath of the storm, which required weeks of clean-up efforts, with Peterborough’s municipal leaders holding daily media briefings along with MPP Smith.
Two weeks after the storm, Premier Doug Ford visited Peterborough County where he received updates on the devastating impacts the storm had on the county’s infrastructure and tree canopy. Later that day, he also visited Haliburton County and the City of Kawartha Lakes.
In addition to the MISA program, the Ontario government also launched the $5 million Business Ice Storm Assistance program to provide up to $250,000 for small businesses, small farms, and not-for-profit organizations to assist with storm-related clean-up and essential repairs not covered by insurance.
