Vélo Canada Bikes was founded in 2012 with a primary goal of increasing Federal government support for everyday cycling in Canada. For the first nine years of our existence, our two main policy goals were the creation of a National Active Transportation Strategy for Canada, and the establishment of a dedicated federal fund for Active Transportation infrastructure.
To work towards achieving these policy goals, we organized three National Bike Summits, two federal lobby days, co-hosted annual Bike Day on the Hill events, established the All-Party Cycling Caucus, helped to draft a private members bill, released a position paper on “The Federal Role in Building a Bike-Friendly Canada”, and built a diverse national coalition of cycling supporters who shared our policy goals.
The Canadian Active Transportation Alliance
To further these policy goals, we co-founded the Canadian Active Transportation Alliance (CATA), which consists of national organizations who are working together to advance Federal support for active transportation policy and programs. CATA is composed of the following member organizations (in alphabetical order): Active School Travel, Canadian Automobile Association, Colleges & Institutes Canada, Green Communities Canada, Heart & Stroke, Piétons Québec, Trans Canada Trail, and Vélo Canada Bikes.
In 2020 and 2021, after almost a decade of advocacy, we achieved our two policy goals: the creation of Canada’s first National Active Transportation Strategy and Canada’s first federal fund dedicated to active transportation infrastructure.
Canada’s First National Active Transportation Strategy
On March 11, 2020, Parliamentary Secretary Andy Fillmore announced that the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Catherine McKenna, had tasked him with developing a National Active Transportation (AT) Strategy for Canada. This was also the same day that Covid-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. This meant that the launch of the National AT Strategy would be delayed. On March 12, 2021, it was announced that consultations to develop the National AT Strategy would begin, and Vélo Canada Bikes helped convene these consultations.
On July 28, 2021, Canada’s first National Active Transportation Strategy was released. The announcement was made by the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities and she was accompanied by her Parliamentary Secretary, Andy Fillmore; MP Pam Damoff; MP James Maloney; Denzil Minnan-Wong, the Deputy Mayor for the City of Toronto; Liz Scanlon, Director at Heart & Stroke; Nancy Lea Smith, Director at The Centre for Active Transportation; and Anders Swanson, the Chair of Vélo Canada Bikes at that time.
The Active Transportation Fund
On March 12, 2021, the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, and Parliamentary Secretary Andy Fillmore announced that a $400 million federal fund for active transportation would be created, with funds being distributed over 5 years. Kate Walker, the vice-chair of Vélo Canada Bikes at the time, participated in the announcement. Video of announcement.
On July 28, 2021, the Active Transportation Fund was launched. The $400 million fund was intended to be allocated over a five year period (2021-2026), but intense demand for the funding led to over $3 billion in applications. The fund was depleted well before the intended end of the program, demonstrating the need for more federal support for active transportation.
What’s next: The Canada Public Transit Fund
Since 2022, Vélo Canada Bikes has been working with the Federal government and our partners to ensure that active transportation infrastructure continues to receive adequate federal funding now that the Active Transportation Fund is fully allocated.
On July 17th, 2024, the Prime Minister announced the establishment of the Canada Public Transit fund (CPTF), which will provide $3 billion per year for public transit and active transportation infrastructure, beginning in 2026-27. We are pleased that many of the recommendations we have made have been incorporated into the design of the CPTF such as eligibility for funding towards active transportation projects in the large Metro-Region Agreements stream and an application process that places weighting and emphasis towards well-designed cycling infrastructure.
We are still working to confirm the continuation of funds dedicated to active transportation in the Targeted Funding stream of the CPTF and Vélo Canada Bikes is in regular contact with Federal representatives to secure this for our members.
