Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will announce more than $1 billion in funding for the second stage of Ottawa's LRT project on Friday, CBC News has learned.

Trudeau will make the announcement at a 9 a.m. news conference at the O-Train Belfast Yard maintenance and storage facility, along with Mayor Jim Watson.

Earlier this year, Ottawa city council pushed ahead with Phase 2 of LRT, a $3.6-billion project that will see the system currently under construction extended east to Trim Road, west to Moodie Drive and south to Bowesville by 2023. The price tag includes various add-ons, including widening Highway 417.

It will add 38 kilometres of rail, and 23 stations to the Ottawa's rail system. The city wants to start construction in 2018, soon after Phase 1 goes into service.

Watson made a formal request to the federal and provincial governments for each to fund a third of the project — about $1 billion apiece — as well half the $315 million cost for the Trim Road extension and an airport link. The prime minister is expected to approve all the funding that the city has requested.

Province's share already approved

The province's treasury board granted the city's request last year, but the city still doesn't have a so-called "green light letter," something the city will want ahead of next year's provincial election. Premier Kathleen Wynne, in Ottawa on Thursday, told reporters she couldn't give a date for when she might deliver the signed letter or cheque, but added her government is working with the city to get it done.

While the federal government did give Ottawa about $67 million last year to advance some preliminary aspects of the Phase 2 LRT project, the city has not had formal confirmation that the government would fund a third of the massive infrastructure project.

That's about to change Friday.

No big surprise

Trudeau appears to be on an infrastructure funding roll this week, having announced $1.3 billion for Montreal's light-rail project on Thursday.

While cities including Ottawa and Montreal have been waiting for official approvals, the announcements may not come as a huge surprise because the Liberals have already promised to outspend the former Conservative government on infrastructure. The government has earmarked more than $180 billion for infrastructure spending over 12 years, starting in 2016.

And in the 2017 budget, the government promised to "support the next phase of ambitious public transit projects" with $20.1 billion of investments, mentioning Ottawa's Phase 2 project as an example.