Students, teachers and staff at Maple Ridge Secondary school in the Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows school district will benefit from $300,000 in provincial School Enhancement Program funding.

Families in the Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows school district will no longer pay fees for eligible bus riders thanks to $185,990 in funding under the new provincial Student Transportation Fund.

The borrowing rates of high-cost, short-term cash loans – payday loans – will be lowered under regulations coming into effect Jan. 1, 2017.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is starting design work on an upcoming safety improvement project in Maple Ridge, to install median barrier on a 6.6-kilometre section of Highway 7, stretching from 240th to 272nd streets.

The B.C. government recognizes the need for a long-term low barrier shelter and housing facility in the City of Maple Ridge and will provide approximately $15 million in capital and operating funding for a permanent facility once an appropriate location is determined.

The B.C. government is providing $270,000 to allow the 40-bed temporary shelter in Maple Ridge to remain open until the end of June 2016.

Service BC will test expanded office hours at its Maple Ridge location in response to requests from local residents.

Naturally Homegrown Foods Limited will promote their line of B.C. grown and hand-cooked potato chips with the help of $100,000 in funding from the B.C. government's Buy Local program.