The city will be on the hook for any costs incurred by the delay in completing the new Westmount recreation centre, says Infrastructure Canada.

Bills will be paid by the federal department up to the deadline, but not after.

"There will be no federal funding for work completed after March 31, 2011," Infrastructure Canada said in an email to the Mountain News.

Municipalities attested on their applications that their projects would be completed by next March’s deadline.

Coun. Terry Whitehead (Ward 8, west Mountain) said last week that construction of the new Westmount complex probably won’t begin until June and would probably finish six months past the federal government's deadline.

“That’s no surprise,” he said of Infrastructure Canada’s stance. “That’s the message they’ve been sending out for the past six months.”

Whitehead said he remains confident the government will take into account problems the project is facing, such as a limited number of qualified qualified contractors who can build pools of the size planned for Westmount.

He said he figures the government will be “reasonable” and take into account “extraordinary” circumstances.

The new Westmount rec centre is being built at a cost of $21 million with $14 million being picked up by the province and Ottawa as part of infrastructure stimulus grants.