Ottawa Extends Deadline for Stimulus Spending

Just last month Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said extending the deadline was out of the question.

Provinces and municipalities across the country are feeling like lucky students today after finally getting an extension from the government. Ottawa had repeatedly rejected the idea that it would push back the March 2011 deadline for jurisdictions to use up their share of the $16-billion stimulus plan, but yesterday Stephen Harper confirmed that cities and provinces will now have until Oct. 31, 2011 to complete Ottawa-funded infrastructure projects. The decision came after a report found that 10 per cent of the 23,000 projects under the plan would not be completed on time. A separate report released by the parliamentary budget officer this week has reignited debate over the stimulus after it found that the funding plan failed to create many jobs.