After a meeting between members of the federal and provincial government met Friday to discuss ongoing recovery efforts in the Fort McMurray area, and Ottawa pledged to put hundreds of millions towards recovery work.

On Friday morning, a number of members of the federal and provincial governments met at the Alberta legislature, including Calgary MP Kent Hehr, Minister of Veterans Affairs, and Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi, and provincial Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee, along with other cabinet ministers and officials.

The meeting came after the federal government formed a cabinet committee with a focus on the wildfires that forced the evacuation of Fort McMurray and surrounding areas, destroying about 2,400 homes and buildings in early May.

It’s believed the cost of the provincial response to the disaster cost more than $600 million.

“Of course, that’s an estimate, there likely will be some unexpected expenses that come up along the way,” Larivee said.

At the start of June, the phased re-entry of residents started – as of Wednesday, nearly 60,000 people had visited information centres in town, that’s about three quarters of Fort McMurray’s total population before the fire.

After the meeting, officials announced the Government of Canada will provide about $300 million to Alberta, through the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) Program. The funding will come in in early July.

“This is the first time a payment of this kind has been expedited so quickly in Canadian history,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said.

The province said the funding will mostly help the Alberta government cover costs incurred in response to the wildfire.

“Those funds are about supporting the provincial government, in terms of the response and early recovery phase, so a lot of those dollars have actually already been spent,” Larivee said.

Officials with the federal government admitted more funding is on the way to help with recovery efforts.

Shortly after the wildfire forced evacuations, both levels of government said they would match citizen donations to the Red Cross – the province said Friday that $30 million would be contributed, while Ottawa said $90 million would go to the Red Cross.

With files from Bill Fortier