Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly is urging business leaders to back a campaign to get more money from Ottawa for roads and other projects.

The One Cent Now campaign calls on the federal government to send one cent of the GST to the municipalities so they can invest in infrastructure.

"They're taking a lot in and we're getting a lot less back," Kelly said Thursday, following an address to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce.

If all municipalities in Canada were given one cent, it would cost the federal government $5 billion. For the Halifax Regional Municipality, it would mean an extra $55 million every year.

The campaign was launched earlier this month by the big-city mayors caucus.

Kelly said the chambers of commerce in Montreal and Toronto are already on board, and he hopes the business community in Halifax backs the campaign too.

Valerie Payn, president of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, had not heard about it until Thursday.

"But it certainly seems like something we want to have a look at," she said.

Getting more money from Ottawa won't just help the municipality's bottom line, Kelly said, because for every dollar spent on roads, sewers and transit, the private sector saves 17 cents in, for instance, reduced maintenance to vehicles and machinery.