Ontario is introducing Canada’s first government green bond program to finance the construction of environmentally friendly infrastructure projects.

The provincial government said Thursday it will launch a green bond offering in the coming weeks through its current dealer group. The offering will be targeted at Canadian and international institutional investors, as it aims to establish a Canadian-dollar green bond market and attract new investors.

While Ontario claims that this issue will be Canada’s first by a government, earlier this year, a green bond was issued by a public-private partnership project in B.C. to finance a hospital construction project. That offering was oversubscribed and raised about $231.5 million from a cross-section of investors, including insurance companies and fund managers.

Ontario’s government says that it expects to use green bonds to help finance transit construction and other infrastructure projects across the province. The first project to be funded from the inaugural offering, which is expected to raise about $500 million, will be a light rail expansion in Toronto known as the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.

“Ontario is taking a major step forward in planning for a greener, more sustainable future and is the only province in Canada to release a certified green bonds program,” said provincial finance minister, Charles Sousa. “People are looking for new and innovative ways to invest in a secure and socially responsible manner. Ontario’s Green Bonds will help us to invest in transit, create jobs and raise capital at competitive rates.”

In its latest budget, the government pledged to spend more than $130 billion on infrastructure over the next 10 years.