The federal government is giving $32 million towards helping protect Windsor residents from flooding.

Marco Mendicino, parliamentary secretary to Minister of Infrastructure and Communities François-Philippe Champagne, made the announcement in Windsor on Friday.

"Taking concrete steps to adapt to the impacts of climate change is more and more essential to ensuring a safe prosperous future for our kids and grandkids,” says Mendicino. “By investing in this important flood protection project, we are helping the community of Windsor build capacity for handling significant rainfalls.”

Mendicino says this important work will equip the community with the infrastructure it needs to better protect residents, become more resilient to future flooding events and greatly reduce the costs of recovery following extreme weather incidents.

"The City of Windsor has been hard hit by flooding in recent years, and we've been working diligently with residents to implement both short and long term solutions,” says Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens. “Having the Government of Canada come to the table with $32.1 million means we can immediately move forward on 12 major projects.”

More than 200 millimetres of rain fell within 24 hours in late September 2016. Another 222 millimetres of rain fell over 24 hours in late August 2017.

The floodwaters created more than $100-million in damages and led to insurance nightmares for homeowners.

Dilkens says the city received “every penny that they asked for” as part of a ten-year, $90-million plan.

The $32-million in federal funding is added to the $22 million the city has already has allocated for its flood mitigation plan.

The project involves building and expanding roadways, sewers and pump stations and other storm water infrastructure. The initial phase of the work will focus on one of the hardest hit areas – the Riverside neighbourhood.

“It will start this year and it will continue, again, for about eight to ten years,” says Dilkens. “We'll accelerate as much as we can to get the work done as fast as possible.”

Once complete, officials say this project will reduce the impacts of flooding on Windsor residents and the local economy.

The government is contributing to the project through the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund.

Mendicino stresses the funding is not a way to buy votes for the upcoming federal election. He tells CTV Windsor the money is guaranteed for the next decade.