Mr. Speaker, in fact, since this Conservative government was elected in 2006, Canada has led all G7 countries with respect to investments and infrastructure as a percentage of GDP. What have been the results of those investments? The average age of public infrastructure is now at its lowest point since the early 1980s.
Our government recognizes that public infrastructure is the backbone of our communities and that investing in infrastructure is vital to ensuring strong, sustainable, and healthy communities with thriving economies. That is why this government is providing an unprecedented $80 billion for public infrastructure over the next 10 years. This includes the $53 billion new Building Canada plan, the largest and longest federal infrastructure plan in our country's history. The plan was designed following extensive consultation with our partners. It provides flexible and predictable federal funding in support of infrastructure projects of national, regional, and local significance, and it is made up of a number of different funds.
The new Building Canada plan has been open for business since March of 2014. Moreover, over $6 billion in public infrastructure funding continues to support infrastructure projects across the country from our original Building Canada plan, which started in 2007.
Providing almost $2 billion of predictable funding per year directly to municipalities, the federal gas tax fund has been significantly improved since 2006. Not only have we expanded its eligible categories to support a greater variety of projects, but our government has also extended it, doubled it, indexed it, and legislated it as a permanent source of federal infrastructure funding.
Moreover, municipalities can pool, bank, and borrow against this funding, allowing them more flexibility in addressing their local needs. Municipalities, including Thunder Bay, can count on the federal gas tax fund. In fact, last year Thunder Bay used contributions from the federal gas tax fund to help revitalize local roads and bridges. Thunder Bay received more than $6.2 million in 2014 alone through the federal gas tax fund.
The plan also contains the $14 billion new Building Canada fund, which is geared toward funding projects of importance to provinces, territories, and municipalities. Under the provincial-territorial infrastructure component, each Canadian province and territory will receive a base amount, plus a per capita allocation over the life of the program. Our government is working with provinces and territories to identify projects, and we are processing proposals as quickly as they come in. We look forward to considering investing in further projects that Thunder Bay deems critical, just as we will for all municipalities across Canada.
Our government is focused on creating the right conditions for economic growth and prosperity.