These past few weeks have been a time of much celebration in my riding of Mississauga–Erin Mills. I was delighted to join my constituents on a number of occasions to observe Passover, Ramadan, Easter, Orthodox Easter, Vaisakhi and Eid al-Fitr celebrations. We have a diverse community in Mississauga with a variety of cultures and traditions. It is always a pleasure to join together for these wonderful occasions.

Something else to celebrate is our government’s investment in homelessness prevention. The government has announced an additional $202 million annually, beginning in 2023-24, under the Homelessness Prevention Program and Indigenous Supportive Housing Program.

On Friday, the MPPs of Peel region announced that Peel will be receiving $42.3 million for the initiative. This money will help those affected by homelessness and support community partners delivering supportive housing.

We know there is a serious housing affordability crisis in Mississauga and throughout Ontario right now. This investment will help solve some of these problems, but while we continue to work hard tackling the housing crisis, these investments will have a tangible short-term impact, helping some of our neighbours get back on their feet. For that, we all have reason to celebrate.

Again, the leader of the opposition provides a real head-scratching argument on housing. Every time the government brings forward a housing supply action plan, we know exactly what that leader and the NDP are going to do: They’re going to vote against it. Then, they’re going to rail against that there’s not enough housing supply.

Again, when they use the word “sprawl,” what does that mean? That means that a young couple who want to live in the community that they grew up in, that they work in, that they want to raise their family in can’t have that opportunity.

They also believe that a farm family who wants to have an opportunity to maybe build a site for their workers on their property or maybe—and this is tough for the NDP to understand—sever a lot for their son or daughter to live on the family farm—that’s the crux of what the NDP stands up against.

What do they also stand up against? They stand up to a $700-million investment in homelessness—

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So what have our policies done? They protected tenants who are under existing rent control, just like we promised in the 2018 budget.

But what’s happened to new rental construction? We need more affordable rental supply. What’s happened, Speaker? In 2021, a 30-year high in purpose-built rental construction; in 2022, the most rental construction starts in our province’s history. And in 2023, our province is staying on track with over 5,000 purpose-built rental starts already this year, which is double last year’s total. We want to build upon that success. We don’t want to go back to the failed policies that that member and her party continue to talk about.

My question is for the Associate Minister of Housing. Many communities across our province have too many individuals and families experiencing housing instability. The factors contributing to homelessness and poverty are complex and need to be addressed with comprehensive, innovative, long-term strategies that help our most vulnerable.

In my riding of Brantford–Brant, we have a number of incredible resources and supports for those who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. I am incredibly proud of the work that these agencies undertake to deliver in providing help for individuals, families and Indigenous communities, but there is more that should be done, and can be done, for them.

Speaker, can the associate minister please explain how our government’s investments into local programs will support housing and homelessness prevention services in my community of Brantford–Brant?

Under the previous Liberal government, the shortage of affordable housing worsened and community supports were lacking. Communities like my riding were unfortunately overlooked by the previous Liberal government, and my constituents are rightly concerned about the impact that their inactions have had on this serious situation. Ontarians deserve a government that is focused on tackling the supply crisis and providing a comprehensive approach to increase the supply of supportive and affordable housing for the most vulnerable.

Speaker, can the associate minister please explain how our government is continuing to make progress in supporting communities to ensure that resources are available for those who need it most?

I want to thank the member from Brantford–Brant for the tireless work that he does, and for this important question.

Our government is committed to providing the resources they need to combat homelessness and poverty. We are investing an additional $1.8 million into that community, bringing the total amount of provincial funding to almost $7 million, a nearly 34% increase, Speaker. This money will be used to fund the Homelessness Prevention Program and the Indigenous Supportive Housing Program, which will provide substantial support to those who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of being homeless.

Our government recognizes the critical relationship between housing supply and homelessness, and that’s why we’re working to ensure that all Ontarians have access to affordable housing and safe housing, no matter where they live.

We’re working with the 29 largest and fastest-growing municipalities to increase housing density around major transit station areas and other priority growth areas like the downtown.

We’re working hard to ensure that all residents have access to the resources they need and we’re committed to providing municipalities with the tools that they require to do so. Since being appointed associate minister I’ve been meeting people in many communities, talking to our great members from this caucus from all of these regions. The consensus is clear: Unlike the previous Liberal government, who neglected communities like Brantford–Brant, we recognize that every community in Ontario deserves the same opportunity to grow and to prosper.

Under the leadership of this Premier and this minister, our government is investing billions of dollars into transit and infrastructure as we accelerate the construction of new homes in all parts of the province. And, Speaker, we’re going to get it done.

We heard the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing actually say in his remarks that it was the last two governments that have caused this housing crisis; frankly, it was a Liberal government for 15 years, with a Conservative official opposition for that entire 15 years—before the Liberals, it was the Mike Harris Conservatives. It seems like those of us on this side finally have something to agree with you on: It was indeed caused by both the Liberals and the Conservative governments.

Speaker, those of us on this side believe that housing is a human right. Studies have shown that when people have proper access to stable and safe housing, the risk of chronic homelessness vastly decreases and health and education outcomes increase positively.

Speaker, there are currently over 6,000 households waiting for housing in the city of Windsor alone. The Landlord and Tenant Board, which that this government talks about fixing—the backlogs are causing significant issues for my residents, and not just mine; all around the province. Landlords have applied for additional rent increases through the Landlord and Tenant Board, and because of the backlogs, decisions are being rendered years later. We have landlords that are coming to the tenants for back pay. One building in Windsor is charging tenants $1,000 in back pay for a rent increase because they waited so long for a decision from the Landlord and Tenant Board.

I had a constituent, just last week, come into my office in tears because she went to the Landlord and Tenant Board, couldn’t get an answer, was told to go to the Rental Housing Enforcement Unit, which has an automated message—they don’t answer—telling them to go back to the Landlord and Tenant Board.

So this government can crow all they want about what they’re doing at the Landlord and Tenant Board, but people can’t actually access those supports.

Speaker, it’s this Conservative government that has allowed the housing crisis to go from bad to worse.

I want to highlight some things. A recent report went to the city of Windsor council, reporting a significant increase in people experiencing homelessness in Windsor. The report shows that the number of people experiencing homelessness in Windsor has more than doubled compared to the report numbers in 2021—a Conservative government. The Conservatives have had a majority government for five years and, as I said, they were the official opposition for 15, and this is their record.

There’s an increase of 61% of Windsor-Essex residents visiting food banks from 2019 to 2022.

According to Feed Ontario, food bank use remains at an all-time high. There has been an increase in food bank use of 42% over the last three years and a 47% increase in people with employment accessing food banks since the Conservatives formed government in 2018. One in four children live in poverty and have to rely on food banks under this Conservative government. Two out of three people who access food banks are social assistance recipients. People in my riding and all across Ontario are struggling to provide food for their families.

Speaker, a key step toward addressing the housing crisis, to addressing child poverty and the increase in food bank use is to actually have affordable housing, to bring in true rent control for all residential units across the province.

It’s an honour to rise in the House today to speak to one of our government’s biggest priorities and, frankly, the top priority for new Canadians, millennials and senior citizens. Of course, I’m talking about the housing crisis. And it is this PC government that recognizes the severity of the housing crisis that we’re facing.

I want to address some points from my colleague before I get into my prepared remarks about supporting non-profit and affordable housing—that’s exactly why, in Bill 23 last year, we made sure that we aren’t taxing these new builds. The average development charge in the GTA is $116,000. That’s a tax that hits the construction before a single shovel hits the ground, before any tenancy even takes place. I would remind that my colleague voted against Bill 23, which actually removes development charges from affordable non-profit housing, which seems to be contrary to his point.

The other thing that my colleague mentioned was around the $202 million for homelessness prevention supports. We saw in the region of Peel—we got $42 million for the region of Peel. We were just there on Friday to announce that. I was joined by colleagues from across Peel region, many of our PC colleagues in Peel region. Good gosh, Speaker, after that election, we’ve sure got a lot of Peel MPPs in the PC caucus, don’t we? Well, we were all there and we were all very happy because that $42 million that we invested is a 38% increase over the same program that was coming to the Peel region the year before. That’s a 38% increase in more supportive housing supports to the region of Peel, which is going to help our most vulnerable citizens, our most vulnerable residents, get a roof over their head and get the wraparound supports that they need and deserve. I was proud to vote on a budget that put that money forward.

Like the member opposite, I want to make sure that we’re investing more money in these things too, but we can’t do that, unless we have a growing economy, an economy that people work in.

We hear from members of the opposition; they talk about how they are the party of workers, but I question—what would workers do under an NDP government? They don’t want to build any other houses. They want to sit with their heads in the sand and ignore that. They don’t want to build transit, in case we ever damage a tree instead of building a subway, which takes cars off the roads, puts investment in our community, and creates good-paying union jobs. They don’t want to invest in the auto manufacturing sector, where we’re having clean, green electric vehicles, electric batteries being made. Volkswagen is coming with 3,000 jobs and 30,000 indirect jobs to St. Thomas. I heard there are a lot of NDP and Green Party candidates who are looking for a job after that last election; maybe they can go on to St. Thomas, where it’s booming with opportunity. They can all work there.

Now I’ll get to my prepared remarks, because I know we’ve got to cool it a little bit.

This PC government recognizes the extreme severity of the housing crisis. That recognition starts by acknowledging where we live. The province of Ontario is the greatest place in the world. It’s no secret people want to live here; quite frankly, we need them to. All of those jobs that we’re creating that the NDP continually vote against—we need people to come here and fill them. We need more people to come to Ontario from all over the world. We need more diversity, not less diversity. We’ve got a labour shortage of about 400,000 jobs, give or take, and our government is hard at work to find ways to get more people into the skilled trades to combat that shortage, be it newcomers from around the world bringing their families with them to benefit our province and begin to call it their home, or our children being taught that they can make a great future for themselves in the skilled trades.

But do you know what, Speaker? We can keep telling people that if they work hard, they can live the life they dreamed of—we can say that all we want, but until we get shovels in the ground and start building homes at the right pace, this is only lip service.

Every member of this House should be standing up and voting for Bill 97, Bill 23, Bill 39, to get shovels in the ground and homes built, to build the dream of home ownership for everybody in Ontario.

Interjections.

For our economy, we need people to move here. But who would we be if we invited people to move to our home, to come to our province, if we sold people on the Canadian dream but we didn’t provide them a place to live? Brampton North, my riding, was once a place people would move to in search of an affordable home outside of Toronto, but now, people of all ages are getting priced out of Brampton. The rising costs are simply unaffordable for the average Ontarian.

Last year, the federal government announced that Canada broke its record with over 430,000 permanent residents welcomed to the country in 2022; by 2025, they hope to see the number go to 500,000. That is welcome news on our side, on the PC Party side of the House. We need to fight the labour shortage, and we need new Canadians to come to Ontario and call our province home, but we also need to welcome them with an opportunity to have a home that meets their needs.

As it stands today, our housing supply is not prepared to welcome the large and rapid influx of new Ontarians we are expecting. Of the 500,000 in 2025, we know that over 60% are going to come to Ontario; specifically, the GTA—and if history shows us anything, many, many, many coming to my community in Brampton. We welcome that, but we need to build the houses so that people have somewhere to live. We need to build the roads so that people have somewhere to drive on, to take their kids to school, to take their parents to the doctor, in order to get to work. We need to build opportunity and jobs for people to work at when they get here.

A recent study conducted by the Ontario Real Estate Association found that two thirds of Ontarians polled are spending well over one third of their budget on housing. We also know that on average, it takes millennials 20 years to save for a down payment. In Mississauga, development charges add approximately $127,000 to the cost of a home. And across the GTA, before a single shovel hits the ground, the average homebuyer already faces an average of $116,900 in municipal development charges and fees. Speaker, $116,900 is more than the cost of a down payment for many homes—and over the course of a 20-year mortgage, it could add more than $800 to a new home buyer’s monthly payment.

We do not believe non-profit and affordable housing providers should be charged huge, unsustainable fees when looking to build housing for vulnerable Ontarians. Through Bill 23, our government is eliminating development charges for affordable, attainable and not-for-profit housing, and purpose-built rentals will see reductions of up to 25%, with the biggest reductions coming for family-sized, family-friendly units. To be clear, this doesn’t mean that municipalities won’t get any revenue from a new home build. It means that home ownership will be a little bit closer in reach for Ontarians because of these increased fees being decreased, that add thousands to the price of a home.

We are committed to building Ontario. That’s why this PC government, in partnership with municipalities across the province, has committed to building 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. I look to the members of the opposition and tell them that this is what collaboration looks like.

In Brampton, in my community, which includes my wonderful riding of Brampton North, the city council endorsed the municipal housing pledge to help our province deliver 113,000 units by 2031. Brampton is not the only municipality to sign on to the housing pledge. The city of Toronto’s housing action plan aims to increase the supply of housing to achieve or exceed the provincial housing target of 285,000 new Toronto homes by 2031. Ottawa has pledged 151,000 homes by 2031. We have Markham pledging 44,000 new homes by 2031. We have 21,000 in Milton, 23,000 in Barrie, and more across the province. Our government is showing the world that collaboration leads to results. The pledges that these cities have signed onto demonstrate their commitment to unlocking more housing, streamlining development approvals, removing the barriers, and accelerating planning in support of the province’s housing target.

Last Friday, I was proud to stand with my PC caucus colleagues, along with three mayors representing the region of Peel: the mayors of Brampton, Mississauga, and Caledon. We all announced over $42 million to the regional municipality of Peel, through the province’s Homelessness Prevention Program, to help those experiencing or at risk of homelessness and supporting community organizations delivering supportive housing. This is a year-over-year increase of 38%. Together we’re getting it done for the people of Brampton, for the people of Peel and the people of Ontario, and this is just building on a track record that this PC government has been working on.

In 2019, we created the province’s first-ever housing supply action plan to reduce red tape and get shovels in the ground and build the dream of home ownership. We built on that success by passing our More Homes for Everyone plan last spring and our new More Homes Built Faster plan last November. And we’re already seeing historic results.

In 2021, our province broke ground on a record number of new home starts, with nearly 100,000 starts in only 12 months. That’s the highest level of new housing starts in a year since 1987. In 2022, Ontario maintained its success and saw the second-highest number of starts since 1988, with just over 96,000 new homes. This is 30% higher than the annual 65,000 home average of the past 20 years.

Speaker, I will say it again for the opposition to hear, through you: This is about collaboration, working together—something the NDP chose to do with the previous Liberal government, backing them every step of the way, through every decision that set our province back. They supported the Liberal government while they closed down hospitals, like the one I was born in, Peel Memorial Hospital, where not only I was born in, but many people in my generation were born in—the same people in my generation in Brampton who want to live in the community that we were born in, who are priced out of the neighbourhood because housing prices have skyrocketed under 15 years of Liberal neglect, backed by the same NDP.

Now, how are we in this situation where we’re asking them to collaborate with us to get shovels in the ground, to build opportunity, to get homes built, to get transit built, to create jobs—good, union, fighting-NDP jobs, union jobs? We’re doing it all over the place. And what do they do? They vote against the measures every single time.

Interjections.