Point of order, Speaker.

I could have done that, took the credit and been everybody’s friend too, Speaker.

Mr. Clark moved third reading of the following bill:

Bill 97, An Act to amend various statutes with respect to housing and development / Projet de loi 97, Loi modifiant diverses lois en ce qui concerne le logement et l’aménagement.

Interjections.

Decades of inaction, combined with layers of red tape and NIMBYism, have created our province’s housing supply crisis. But our government has been working extremely hard, and we’re going to continue to work hard to correct this. We’re doing this for the many Ontarians who have literally been priced out of the market through no fault of their own. And we’re doing this for those Ontarians who rent homes and need some relief.

The legislation before us is designed to support a greater package. The package is our government’s most recent housing supply action plan, which also—and I want to stress this—contains some non-legislative items. I’ll get to those at the end of my proposal. It’s the latest in a series of steps that our government is taking to our ultimate goal of building 1.5 million homes by 2031.

Our plan also aims to make life easier and more affordable for people across our great province. That’s why this action plan looks at, really, four different aspects of housing: rental units, home ownership, cost to build and land supply. If passed, the proposed legislative changes, along with our corresponding housing supply action plan, would make life easier for renters, would strengthen homebuyer protections, would reduce the costs of building a new home and would streamline the rules around land use planning and encourage the development of more housing.

Speaker, since introducing the bill earlier this spring, we’ve received support from across the province from a variety of sectors, and I’ll highlight a few of them this morning. The Ontario Real Estate Association, OREA, commended our government on bringing forward several proposed solutions to address the housing supply and affordability crisis to support future homebuyers, tenants and landlords across the province.

Another stakeholder, the Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario, or FRPO, supports the new Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act and “the measures it introduces to protect residents from illegal evictions and to punish bad actors.”

AMO, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario—a great stakeholder—acknowledges that we have proposed changes that are in direct response to municipal feedback, including flexibility for site plan control and giving municipalities extra time to adjust to changes regarding both site plan and zoning refunds.

Of course, Speaker, we wouldn’t be standing here today without the bold initiatives that our government has taken so far and has already put into place. In May 2019, our government released our first housing supply action plan, More Homes, More Choice. That plan cut red tape and made it quicker and simpler to build the right type of housing in the right places. The aim was to help make housing less expensive to build and to help taxpayers keep more of their hard-earned dollars.

Then, after that, in the spring of 2022, we released our second action plan, More Homes for Everyone. That action plan was based on extensive consultations, including the province’s first-ever Ontario-Municipal housing summit. We received even more feedback from mayors, reeves and wardens of Ontario’s smaller, rural, northern and remote municipalities at our Rural Housing Roundtable. In addition, the Housing Affordability Task Force consulted with municipalities, with experts and with industry. More Homes for Everyone included targeted policies to help speed up approvals and it took steps to gradually refund fees if municipal decisions weren’t made within a legislated time frame.

Speaker, those first two action plans did a lot, but we recognized that there was much more the government needed to do. So last fall, we came out with our third housing supply action plan, More Homes Built Faster. It built on the successful initiatives that the government had previously put forward in both legislation and regulation by taking more actions to ensure that Ontarians across the province can access a home that truly meets their needs and their budgets. In addition, we bolstered our action plans through legislation that the House passed that gave the mayors of Ontario’s two biggest cities, Toronto and Ottawa, more powers to help address local barriers to building more homes.

Speaker, all of these steps—every single one of them—shared one overall goal and that was to build more homes in our province.

Interjection.

Speaker, the action plans and the measures that we’ve taken are having an extremely positive effect in our province. In fact, we’re seeing historic results in increasing housing supply. People in the House have heard me say this many times in the last two years: We’ve reached consecutive 30-year highs in terms of housing starts. In fact, in rental starts, we saw an all-time high for starts last year in 2022, and I’m happy to tell people—

Interjections.

Good morning. Let us pray.

Prayers.

Yes, let’s hear it for the housing starts.

We’re also, Speaker, seeing very, very encouraging numbers for 2023. In early 2023, for the same period last year, Ontario saw an increase of over 3,700 housing starts. It’s about a 16% rise over 2022. Purpose-built rentals, for the same year: more than double a year ago at this time.

So, Speaker, why are the numbers up? Well, it’s pretty simple. They’re up because of the results of what our government has accomplished because of our housing supply action plans. They’re a direct result of the measures that this government has put in place to ensure that we can get shovels in the ground faster. That’s why the government is going to continue to move forward. We’re going to continue to champion new proposals to further help increase supply.

I want to again emphasize, Speaker, that the proposed changes that we’re debating today, changes that form the basis of the Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants plan, build upon the government’s actions that I’ve outlined in my remarks. In addition to new rental housing units, which our past policies are helping to bolster, our new proposed changes would help make other aspects of life easier for renters.

First, our proposed legislation would clarify and enhance a tenant’s right to install portable or window air conditioning in their unit. Second, our proposed changes will, if passed, further strengthen renter protections against evictions due to renovations or repairs, and evictions for landlord’s own use of the unit. We also propose to double the maximum fines on offences under the Residential Tenancies Act: $100,000 for individuals, half a million dollars for corporations.

We’re also—I want to do a shout-out to our fantastic Attorney General, Doug Downey. As well, outside of this bill—again, I want to talk about some things that are outside of this bill but have direct, positive impact to our housing supply action plan—is the decision that the Attorney General made to make that historic investment: $6.5 million to increase the Landlord and Tenant Board, to effectively double the amount of adjudicators. We’re adding 40 new adjudicators, five additional support staff to deal with the backlog. I don’t care what side of the LTB hearing you’re at, whether you’re a landlord or a tenant, this is going to be transformational for the LTB. Again, I want to thank Attorney General Downey for his commitment to working with us and adding this critical piece to our housing supply action plan. Thanks to the Attorney General.

Speaker, our plan would also better protect homebuyers and their financial investments. In March, I was pleased to join Minister Rasheed and Associate Minister Tangri for the announcement that our government is expanding deposit insurance for credit union members saving for the purchase of their first home. First home savings accounts were introduced by the federal government, and credit union members can use them to save for that purchase of their first home. Now the money in a first home savings account is fully protected through the province’s deposit insurance regime, just like RRSPs and TFSAs.

We also have two other initiatives outside of Bill 97 that the government is exploring to support the buyers of new homes. First, we’re looking at a cooling-off period on the purchases of new freehold homes, and second, we’re exploring a requirement that purchasers of all new homes receive legal advice on their purchase agreements. The minister is going to outline more details on those proposals later on in our government’s leadoff.

Speaker, our proposals in this new action plan would continue to support greater intensification, while at the same time making sure sufficient land is available to accommodate the new homes our province needs. As I announced very clearly when we first tabled this bill, there are some measures that are outside of Bill 97, and I’m carefully clarifying that because there’s been some miscategorization of this. Part of what we announced at the same time we tabled this bill was our intention to integrate key elements of two documents, the provincial policy statement and A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The reason this is so important is it would create a single, province-wide, housing-focused, land use planning policy document. We believe it’s very important for us to simplify existing policies, to refocus on achieving the housing outcomes that this government has indicated on many occasions we want to get to by 2031, and it would give large and fast-growing municipalities the tools they need to deliver housing. A single planning document would reflect our government’s belief that all of Ontario, not just the greater Golden Horseshoe, should be a place to grow.

The other item that we announced, again, outside of the actual legislation is our intention to reduce the cost of building housing. We’re planning on freezing 74 provincial fees at their current level. This is something that came as a direct result of our first housing summit, where big-city mayors told us and regional chairs said that it can’t just be fees at the municipal level. So in response to direct municipal feedback, those 74 provincial fees are going to be kept at their current levels. These include several fees related to Tribunals Ontario, the Ontario Land Tribunal and the building code, and we’re consulting on implementation of the fee freezes through Ontario’s Regulatory Registry.

Speaker, I just want to deviate from my notes a bit, because there has been significant confusion about some of the things that are in Bill 97 and some of those consultation pieces that I spoke of. For example, today, my local Green Party president has told all the media that he’s protesting the severance issues in Bill 97. Well, as members of the government know, there aren’t any severance provisions in Bill 97. Again, one of the things I learned when I first came to the Legislature was that I wanted to read bills before I decided to take an aggressive stance. So I say to the leader of the Green Party and his local president, I’ve got a couple of copies of Bill 97 waiting at the constituency office today, so I hope you’ll pick it up when you’re there.

But I also encourage Ontarians, no matter whether it’s the provincial policy statement and our growth plan consultation, whether it’s the consultations of the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery—I encourage all Ontarians to use the opportunities that the government is affording to them to give us real feedback. Some of the things I spoke about today that are in Bill 97 came as a direct result of feedback we received from stakeholders, like our municipal partners.

Speaker, I want to conclude by again emphasizing that our proposed Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act builds upon previous actions put in place by the government, which I’ve detailed to the House this morning. These are all actions aimed to support homeowners, renters, landlords, non-profits, private sector builders and our municipal partners across Ontario. By working together, and with the tools and the support of the housing supply action plans, we can realize that goal of creating 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years.

Speaker, I want to thank you. It’s great to see you in the chair this morning and, at this point, I’m going to yield the floor to the Associate Minister of Housing, the Honourable Nina Tangri.

I want to thank the minister for his earlier remarks.

Speaker, it really is my privilege to speak today on further details of the proposed Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act. I want to thank the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for providing a very concise overview of this bill. You will be hearing later from the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery for a detailed exploration of the advantages of this proposed legislation for new home buyers.

But let me remind the members of this House about the work our government has done to help those Ontarians who rent their homes and what we’re proposing to continue to make life better for tenants across this province.

Our government recognizes that rentals make up a big part of Ontario’s overall housing market. That’s why our previous housing supply action plans have included initiatives to enable the construction of new rental housing. Since 2019, we’ve made changes to boost the supply of rental housing to help increase affordability and choice for Ontarians. And we’re seeing progress. New rental construction is at a record high, with almost 7,200 starts so far this year. That’s more than double the number of rental starts from the same period last year.

But we’re doing more than just working to increase rental housing supply. Protecting tenants remains a top priority for our government. Since our government was elected in 2018, we’ve introduced and implemented numerous measures to help tenants. We’ve changed the rules to enable the construction of more rental units. We’ve implemented measures to protect against bad-faith evictions while clamping down on bad landlords. We’ve made ongoing investments in the Landlord and Tenant Board to modernize their processes. When renters were facing challenges during the height of the pandemic, we froze 2021 rents and we temporarily suspended the enforcement of evictions so tenants could remain safe in their homes.

The Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act and the plan now represent our government’s latest efforts to make life better for tenants. According to Statistics Canada data, the growth in the number of renter households has outpaced the growth in homeowner households, from 2011 to 2021, in Canada’s 41 large urban centres. The time for this House to pass our government’s proposed legislation that will improve the lives of so many of Ontario’s renters is now.

Speaker, through you, let me give the members of this House some examples of how our bill would help renters.

Our proposed legislation would clarify and enhance the rules regarding air conditioning in rental units. We propose to amend the Residential Tenancies Act so that when a landlord does not provide air conditioning, tenants would be permitted to install a window-mounted or portable air conditioning unit. Of course, this would be subject to some rules. A tenant would need to give written notice to the landlord of their intention to install an air conditioning unit prior to its installation. In addition, the air conditioning unit would need to be installed safely and securely, without causing damage, while complying with any applicable laws. Renters would pay for the air conditioner, the installation and the maintenance. And tenants who have electricity included in their rent could be charged a seasonal fee by the landlord, based on the actual electricity cost to the landlord or a reasonable estimate.

Our bill has even more advantages for renters. At a time when renters are faced with uncertain economic forces like inflation, our government is acting.

Our proposed legislation, if passed—along with future regulations—would increase tenant protections against evictions due to renovations or repairs, as well as evictions for a landlord’s own use of a unit. We intend to do this by giving tenants greater access to remedies and by increasing the reporting requirements that landlords must follow. If passed, this bill would require a landlord who is ending a tenancy to do renovations or repairs to provide a report stating that the rental unit needs to be vacant while that work is taking place. A future regulation would outline the details that must be included in that report. Regulations would also set out the required qualifications of the persons who could provide this report. Once these regulations are made, this document must be provided to the tenant along with an eviction notice; otherwise, the eviction notice would be considered invalid.

In situations where tenants have indicated they want to return to their old unit, our proposed changes would require landlords to provide written notification, without delay, of the estimated date when the unit will be ready for occupancy after the renovations or repairs are completed. In addition, written notification would again be required for any changes to that expected completion date and would need to include a new estimated completion date. And finally, when the unit is ready for occupancy, the landlord would be required to give the tenant a minimum 60-day grace period to move back in. This grace period is intended to accommodate the tenant’s requirement to provide 60-day notice to end their tenancy in their temporary accommodation if they are renting elsewhere while renovations are completed. If the tenant does move back in, the landlord would be required—as is the case currently—to charge the tenant a rent similar to what was charged before the renovations.

Speaker, as the law now stands, if a landlord fails to give the right of first refusal to an evicted tenant after renovations or repairs are completed, the tenant has two years within which to file a complaint with the Landlord and Tenant Board. Our proposed legislation would change the Residential Tenancies Act so that a tenant would have two years after moving out or six months after the renovations are complete, whichever is longer, to file their complaint. This would extend the tenant’s access to justice.

Our proposed legislation and related regulations would also tighten the rules regarding evictions when a landlord wishes to use a rental unit for their own use or for one of their family members. To help ensure these types of evictions are genuine, our proposed changes would set a time frame, to be prescribed in the regulation, within which a landlord or their family member must move into the unit after the unit becomes vacant. If the move is not made by that deadline, the landlord would be presumed to have acted in bad faith. The tenant could then apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board for a remedy, and the landlord would have the onus to prove to the board that the eviction was not in bad faith. The amount of time that a landlord would have to move in would be set at a future date, once our government has consulted on a fair and reasonable time period.

Our proposed legislation would also increase the maximum fines for offences under the Residential Tenancies Act. If passed, our legislation would amend the Residential Tenancies Act to double the fines under this act. The maximum fines would rise to $100,000 from $50,000 for individuals, and to $500,000 from $250,000 for corporations. We believe that increasing these fines would help deter rental housing offences such as unlawful evictions. Our government knows it is critical that tenants be protected from this type of behaviour.

Speaker, I’ve mentioned the Landlord and Tenant Board several times in regard to renovictions and own-use situations. However, there are many kinds of landlord-tenant disputes that get resolved through the Landlord and Tenant Board, and it is essential that the LTB be ready to adjudicate these disputes. That’s why our government is doubling the number of adjudicators to eliminate the backlog of cases at the LTB and reduce wait times for landlords and for tenants.

Our proposed legislation would also introduce other welcome improvements. It would amend the Residential Tenancies Act to mandate the use of the Landlord and Tenant Board’s form for rent repayment agreements. These agreements are used when a landlord has applied to the Landlord and Tenant Board to evict a tenant for owed rent, and the landlord and the tenant agree to a repayment plan. The LTB’s rent repayment agreement form is a legal document that sets out the terms of payment. Currently, there is no requirement for a specific form or format to be used for a repayment agreement. This would standardize these agreements, setting out in plain language the rights and obligations of both renters and landlords and the potential consequences if the agreement is breached.

Speaker, our government knows it is crucially important to protect and increase our province’s stock of rental housing. Building on More Homes Built Faster, one of our government’s earlier housing supply action plans which I mentioned earlier, our proposed legislation would make changes to the Municipal Act and the City of Toronto Act. These changes would be necessary to give the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing the regulation-making authority necessary to create a balanced regulatory framework governing municipal rental replacement bylaws. This would help streamline the construction and revitalization of rental housing, while protecting tenants.

Speaker, as things stand, rental replacement bylaws vary amongst municipalities. This includes requirements that municipalities impose around number, size, height and cost of rental units, as well as right of first refusal for existing tenants.

Our government envisions a regulatory framework where any municipality that establishes a bylaw must require that replacement units contain the same core features as the units they are replacing. By this we mean features such as the same number of bedrooms. We’re also considering permitting some flexibility when it comes to the overall size of the unit and the size of, for example, the bedrooms.

This regulatory framework could also require municipalities to impose a requirement on landowners to provide existing tenants with the right to move back into the replacement unit at similar rent levels. Our government is consulting on future regulations that would help ensure a balanced package of rules for these replacement bylaws.

I’ve outlined how our government’s proposed Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act would strengthen protections and new rights for tenants. This legislation represents our government’s latest efforts to make life better for tenants and homebuyers across this great province. We have a responsibility to the people of Ontario to ensure that they have access to safe, affordable housing. This bill, if passed, will help us achieve that goal by strengthening protections and providing new rights for tenants, while also encouraging the construction of new rental housing.

I urge each and every one of the members here today to consider the impacts this legislation will have on the lives of so many Ontarians. Let us come together and pass this bill so that we can continue to make life better for renters and landlords across Ontario. We have done so much already, and yet there is still so much more to be done as we work towards our goal of building 1.5 million homes to ensure that every Ontarian has a safe and affordable place to call home.

Speaker, I would now like to turn the floor over to the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

The Associate Minister of Housing.

Thank you to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and our great associate minister, as well, for their remarks this morning. I’m pleased to speak on our government’s proposed Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act and its corresponding plan.

Specifically, Speaker, I’ll be speaking on our proposed changes regarding the future of land use planning in our province. They would support our government’s initiatives to produce a single land use planning document for the province. This would be a great improvement over the current situation we have with the provincial planning statement and A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

This layer upon layer of planning rules is inefficient, Speaker. It causes great delays, which many government colleagues have heard through a variety of stakeholders: municipalities, builders and everyone else in Ontario. It’s not helping us get more homes, which Ontarians desperately need built. That is why our government launched consultations on April 6 seeking opinions, advice and ideas on how key elements of these two sets of planning rules should be combined into one overall land use planning document for all of Ontario.

I want to emphasize that we are paying close attention to the consultations that we are hearing and we appreciate the interest of the public so far. This is crucial to our government’s efforts to get the housing built that Ontarians desperately need. That’s why we’ve made great headway in tackling Ontario’s housing crisis. But, as the minister and associate minister have said, more needs to be done. A streamlined set of land use planning rules will go a long way in helping our partners in the municipal sector and the building industry to reach approval on new housing projects in a much more rapid manner.

What I also want to emphasize is that a single set of planning rules will benefit all of Ontario, not just the greater Golden Horseshoe. When proponents of a new housing project have one set of rules to follow, no matter where they are in Ontario, that translates into a simpler, quicker and less costly housing project. But right now, that is not the case. All of Ontario is subject to a set of planning rules detailed in the provincial policy statement, often referred to as the PPS. However, in the greater Golden Horseshoe, there is an additional set of rules contained in A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

The greater Toronto area, which is just one area of the greater Golden Horseshoe, is expected to grow by 2.9 million people by 2046. And I want to say that again: We need more housing to accommodate the additional 2.9 million people in the next—Speaker, this is not just a housing issue; it’s an economic problem that can affect the entire country. The greater Golden Horseshoe generates more than 25% of Canada’s gross domestic product. It is literally the economic engine of Ontario and the country. But this economic engine needs workers who in turn have a place to live.

It is crucial that we get land use planning right so that new housing can be built quickly and without unnecessary costs and delays. Compound those demands with the current situation we have in planning rules on top of planning rules which builders must navigate on their own, and it’s easy to see how delays and costs end up adding up. A streamlined set of planning rules will help us meet all of those challenges more quickly with less cost. That’s why we plan to integrate the provincial policy statement and A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe into a new province-wide streamlined and housing-focused land use planning policy instrument. This new simplified and streamlined planning policy document would be called the provincial planning statement—still PPS, Speaker. It would give direction to all of Ontario and give specific direction tailored to the needs of Ontario’s 29 fastest-growing communities.

Our proposed new provincial planning statement would be based on five pillars.

The first pillar is generating an appropriate housing supply. For this, our new PPS would give specific direction to 29 of Ontario’s largest and fastest-growing municipalities with regard to planning for major transit station areas and greenfield lands. This will help us ensure an adequate supply of housing. Simpler and more flexible policies would apply to all other municipalities to accommodate more local conditions but would still encourage growth, Speaker. For example, our proposed policies would promote more rural housing by allowing greater flexibility in smaller communities. Smaller and rural municipalities would also engage with the private sector to provide the infrastructure needed for new housing. As well, municipalities would be encouraged to establish density targets for undeveloped land.

The second pillar, Speaker, on which our new PPS is based is making land available for new homes. This is part of our plan to build homes for Ontarians in urban and suburban areas, as well as rural parts of the province, while still maintaining strong environmental protections across Ontario. We would require municipalities to have enough land with water and sewer access ready to meet their communities’ forecasted housing needs for three years into the future. We would also require municipalities to adhere to an at least 25-year planning horizon, and we would continue to encourage municipalities to build where it makes sense, such as locating office, institutional and residential development near transit, and mix retail and commercial areas with housing, schools and other community uses to create complete communities, Speaker. At the same time, we recognize that housing needs must be balanced against other necessities. That’s why we would require that large parcels of land be preserved for agriculture and heavy industry that are best separated from residential areas to lessen the effects of noise and odours that may result from their operations.

The third pillar, Speaker, is focused on the need for infrastructure to support residential development. This means, for example, that school boards and municipalities should work together—I know, Speaker, in your role, you are very well aware of that need—and be innovative in finding new ways to integrate schools into new developments.

Infrastructure corridors are an important consideration that must be protected for hydro, transit and transportation to build the housing we need for the future and the industries that we continue to attract to our province. However, we recognize the growth demands being placed on large and fast-growing municipalities, so our proposed PPS would give special direction to them to offer some flexibility.

The fourth pillar is balancing housing with the need to protect resources. For example, we would require municipalities to designate prime agricultural areas to support our province’s productive and valuable agri-food network. We would also maintain all greenbelt protections, including policies on environmental and agricultural lands. Water resources must be protected, so municipalities would be encouraged to adopt watershed planning approaches, rather than requiring watershed plans. Similarly, aggregate resources must be protected to ensure we have the supplies we need to continue to build Ontario. If we’re to make it easier and less costly to build housing, we must protect these aggregate resources, such as the sand and gravel that goes into making cement. We must also allow access to these deposits in more cost-efficient locations and streamline the approval process needed to extract these deposits.

Lastly, but certainly not least, our proposed PPS would encourage municipalities to focus on improving air quality and consider the impacts of climate change.

I now want to speak about the legislative measures in our bill that will support our aim to create housing-focused, land use planning systems. Our proposal is to enable the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to require landlords to enter into agreements for projects assigned to the Provincial Land and Development Facilitator. I know we hear this a lot from the opposition members on requiring landlords to enter these agreements for these projects, and so we are putting that in this bill right now. Our goal is to help ensure that commitments made by property owners are fulfilled, and they honour those commitments. A good example is in cases where a ministerial zoning order may be contemplated.

We’re also proposing two changes to the City of Toronto Act and the Planning Act regarding site plan control. The first change would delay the date on which municipalities must begin to refund at least a portion of zoning bylaw and site plan application fees if they don’t make a decision within a specific period of time. This process was set to begin on January 1 this year, as set out in the More Homes for Everyone housing supply action plan. However, we propose to move that date to July 1 of this year to better align with municipal processes and it’s also, as the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing mentioned, something we heard from our municipal colleagues at AMO and ROMA around these changes in Bill 23, and so we continue to listen to our municipal partners and work with them in adjusting these timelines to ensure, really, Speaker, that we get more housing built quicker.

Our second proposed change would enable municipalities to use site plan control for residential developments of 10 units or less in specific circumstances. More Homes Built Faster, our housing supply action plan released last fall includes changes to the Planning Act and the City of Toronto Act to limit municipalities’ ability to use site plan control for residential developments with 10 units or less. We now propose further changes to the Planning Act and the City of Toronto Act that would give the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing the authority to make regulations to permit municipalities to use site plan control for residential developments of 10 or fewer units on a single lot in specific circumstances. If our bill is passed—and the minister did make regulations—those regulations would outline specific conditions where site plan control could be used for residential development of 10 units or less. These conditions are proposed to be circumstances where the site is near a shoreline or near a railway.

Speaker, I know the minister has mentioned—we’ve heard a lot mentioned around our proposed provincial planning statement, and it’s great to hear that feedback and those important proposals we are making to get more housing built in Ontario in all communities: rural Ontario, suburban Ontario and downtown Toronto, and we’ll continue to work with our municipal colleagues and our industry and home-building colleagues and all stakeholders to get more housing built. Our policies and proposed legislation changes are necessary if Ontario is to solve its housing supply crisis and also meet future demand for even more housing.

Speaker, before I conclude, I want to again mention our government’s proposed consultation on our proposed planning statement. That consultation began on April 6 and has been extended—again, hearing from stakeholders across Ontario, extending that consultation period by another 60 days. August 4 now, I believe, is the deadline for submissions. I encourage anyone who is watching this morning and I encouraged all those who reached out to my office to submit feedback through the Environmental Registry of Ontario, and that feedback is very well regarded and read.

The plan, as I’ve outlined in my remarks, is—and of this legislation is to support our ambitious goal to build 1.5 million homes by 2031. I know our government has an all-of-government approach to get those homes built in Ontario—again, communities across Ontario. As I mentioned in my remarks, the economic value is also something that is overlooked sometimes.

Many, many employers in my riding of Perth–Wellington are looking for workers. They’ve been looking for workers since the pandemic has subsided, whether that’s in advanced manufacturing, in our growing agribusinesses, in home construction, in skilled trades, even in health care.

But the number one need is housing. The nurses and the doctors need a place to live, as well; the accountants need a place to live—and ensuring that we have the mixed range of housing in communities across Ontario to meet those growing needs.

The Minister of Economic Development and the Premier continue to attract many, many businesses to Ontario, and I know one of the second questions they most likely get in their deliberations is, “Where are we going to find the employees?” So our government is proposing ambitious proposals to meet that and build more homes to ensure that Ontario continues to grow and continues to be a great place to live, work and raise a family, to ensure that our economy continues to grow. As I mentioned in my remarks, it is the economic engine of Canada. And ensuring that the many, many new Canadians coming to our shores are welcomed and have a place to grow and have a place to—if they choose to own a place, to rent a place, but a place to call their own and to raise their family and to contribute, as so many before them have contributed to our society and our communities across Ontario.

In conclusion, again, I encourage everyone to submit a comment through the provincial planning statement, PPS, by August 4; we’ve extended it by 60 days based on the feedback we’ve heard from stakeholders across Ontario.

Our government continues to listen to Ontarians on a variety of issues, especially our ambitious goal to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031.

Now, Speaker, it’s my pleasure to turn it over to the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery, or the minister of peanut butter sandwiches, as I like to call him.

The member from Perth–Wellington.

The Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery.

Thank you to my honourable colleague for reminding everyone of the acronym for my ministry—peanut butter sandwich delivery.

Good morning, and thank you, Speaker, for this great opportunity to speak on such a wonderful bill, and it’s all about housing.

I’m pleased to speak in the House today in support of the third reading of our government’s Bill 97, Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, 2023.

Together with my esteemed colleagues the Honourable Steve Clark, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing; Associate Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Nina Tangri; and their parliamentary assistant, PA Rae, we have been working relentlessly to address Ontario’s housing supply challenges.

Our great province is filled with hard-working Ontarians seeking the perfect place to call home and one that fits both their needs and their budget. We are dedicated to helping them achieve their dream of home ownership and ensuring they can confidently spend their hard-earned money. Using every tool at our disposal, we support Ontarians in making informed choices when it comes to finding a forever home in our province.

Speaker, we are all aware of the housing crisis in Ontario, and we recognize the immense economic impact of home building. Our goal is to construct 1.5 million homes by 2031, effectively addressing the housing supply crisis.

A strong residential construction industry is crucial for the prosperity of our province.

Under our Premier’s leadership, we have focused on cutting red tape and modernizing processes to accelerate home construction. That’s why our government introduced Ontario’s first-ever housing supply action plan in 2019, and look how far we have come since 2019. I believe this is our housing supply action plan 4.0. Speaker, I want to acknowledge my colleague the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for his hard work on these initiatives. It seems like a movie or one of those dramas: season 1, season 2, season 3. So I will say this is season number 4, and I’m sure the minister will say soon there will be season 5, season 6, season 7 of the housing supply action plan—not that I’m saying anything, but just wanted to mention: hint, hint.

Speaker, housing supply action plan 4.0, recently announced by Minister Clark, includes our plan to strengthen protections for buyers and enhance their confidence in purchasing a new home. As the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery, we oversee Ontario’s legislation for new homes, including the New Home Construction Licensing Act, and the builder regulator, the Home Construction Regulatory Authority, or the HCRA.

We are committed to innovating and strengthening our protections for homebuyers, and here’s how we plan to do it: In the coming weeks, we will consult with the public, consumer groups and the homebuilding sector. Through the Ontario Regulatory Registry, we aim to explore the possibility of a cooling-off period for buyers of new freehold homes and whether to create new requirements that buyers of all new homes receive legal advice on their purchase agreements. Speaker, we will explore whether a purchaser of a new freehold home should be able to cancel their purchase agreement within a specific time frame and how builders could be required to disclose a cooling-off period to purchasers. Additionally, we intend to consult on issues related to price escalation in the new home construction sector. These proposed changes would enhance consumers’ understanding of their rights and obligations, and empower all new home buyers to make confident decisions in the most significant purchase of their lives.

Our government is committed to strengthening consumer confidence in the new home sector and protecting Ontarians from unethical practices in the home-building marketplace. Speaker, just in 2021, we established the Home Construction Regulatory Authority, the HCRA, an independent not-for-profit corporation that administers and enforces the New Home Construction Licensing Act, 2017, and licensing act regulations. The HCRA’s mandate includes upholding professional standards for new home builders, protecting the public interest and educating consumers to make informed decisions. It is also to regulate builders of new homes and ensure compliance with a mandatory code of ethics. The HCRA has the authority to enforce compliance through education, warnings, placing conditions on a builder’s licence or by suspending or revoking a builder’s licence, and the HCRA has taken such steps to better protect consumers.

Speaker, just last fall, in fact, I believe our government passed changes to the licensing act that crack down on predatory actions by builders of new homes in Ontario. These changes increase the existing maximum financial penalties against unethical builders who unfairly cancel a contract. Those bad actors now face the risk of permanently losing their licence.

Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, through the housing supply action plan 4.0, our government is taking bold actions to tackle Ontario’s housing supply crisis. We have introduced various measures to increase the supply of housing, accelerate construction and strengthen consumer protection. We will continue to execute housing supply action plans every year of our current mandate, as we promised, to reach our goal of building 1.5 million new homes by 2031.

In 2021, we witnessed the highest number of new housing starts in Ontario in over three decades, and the credit goes to Premier Ford as well as the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Steve Clark, and our entire government, all government members, for making sure that Ontarians can have their dream homes. I’m sure all of us are working to make sure that we continue to make that dream a reality. As a government, Speaker, we are proud of this achievement, but we also know that it is just the beginning.

I must also address the rapidly growing condominium sector in Ontario and our ongoing efforts to enhance protections for condo owners and residents. I want to start with something that affects more than a million of our fellow Ontarians’ condo living. Condos are not just homes. They play a major role as a housing option for millions of individuals and families, and are a testament to the strength and growth of our province, accounting for half of all new homes being built.

This robust expansion of the condo sector, which is valued at nearly $45 billion and provides jobs for over 300,000 Ontarians, is something we can all be proud of, but it means we must constantly re-evaluate our laws and consumer protections. While most condos are well run and satisfy their owners and residents, we are aware that there are challenges. Therefore, we will continue to assess the potential future expansion of the Condominium Authority Tribunal’s jurisdiction to support Ontario’s valued condo communities.

Speaker, it is no secret that buying or selling a home is a significant milestone. As such, Ontarians should feel confident in the professionals who guide them through this process. That is why we are doubling down on protections for Ontarians navigating the real estate market.

The Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2020, or as we say, TRESA 2020, makes important changes to how real estate professionals interact with the public, ensuring their practices reflects the changing realities of the industry. In the first phase of TRESA 2020, changes were made to allow registrants and brokers to incorporate and be paid through a personal real estate corporation. This first phase has also allowed registrants to use more recognizable terms, such as real estate agent and realtor, to describe brokers and salespersons in their advertisements.

The second phase of legislative and associated regulation changes, once in force, will also encourage transparency and ethical practices by introducing a new code of ethics regulation, strengthening disclosure requirements and other registrants’ obligations, to better protect the public. In addition, the changes will allow a registrant to conduct an open offer process and disclose the details of competing offers, of course without divulging personal or identifying information contained in the offers at the seller’s direction. These changes, backed by the stakeholders and the Real Estate Council of Ontario, are all part of our commitment to Ontarians.

Speaker, we also want to speed up residential home construction. Our partnership with Ontario One Call is crucial in achieving this. It aims to increase the efficiency, timeliness and coordination of digging activities by excavators and promote safe digging practices. Their role in coordinating excavation work and promoting safe digging practices is a cornerstone of our construction projects.

We are actively improving the locate delivery system to ensure businesses can start their projects quicker, avoiding unnecessary delays. In particular, we are looking at innovative models for locate delivery through a dedicated-locator model, which is currently in place for all broadband projects. This means a faster rollout of critical infrastructure commitments like new homes, improved public transit and expanded broadband services in underserved areas. These changes will help businesses get shovels in the ground faster and reduce delays in obtaining necessary information about the location of underground infrastructure, such as telecommunications, gas, electrical and water lines, helping the province deliver on the many infrastructure projects that are, in turn, helping Ontarians and fuelling our economic growth.

Speaker, our efforts don’t stop here. We are also creating new data standards that support e-permitting for planning and development applications. Working with municipalities and home builders, the new data standard will provide clear, uniform rules and guidance about how data should be captured, shared and used.

I know I only have 50 seconds, but, Speaker, let’s make our shared vision of a bright and prosperous future for all Ontarians a reality. The quicker we get shovels in the ground, the faster we can help Ontarians realize their dream of home ownership, or as my grandfather says, the Canadian dream.

I know you all will have valuable feedback on the proposed amendments. We definitely encourage everyone to give us your feedback, and I look forward to a productive debate conversation.

But in the end, I just want to say thank you to the minister, Premier, associate minister, PA and everyone—all my colleagues—for all the great work they are doing in making sure that Ontarians can have a home they all can enjoy with their families.

My question is to the member for Mississauga East–Cooksville. We have been contacted by many prospective homeowners—people in Durham region, in the Ottawa West–Nepean area, in the area of Stayner—who bought homes at pre-construction, put up hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases in deposit money, and years later, they’re waiting for their home to be built. The developer isn’t building it unless they turn around and pay a whole lot more. They have contacted the Home Construction Regulatory Authority again and again and again, and they’re not getting the answers that they want. They’re stressed. They’re worried they’re going to lose their life savings. They want this government to take action. What is this government going to do to ensure these people get the homes they purchased at the price they agreed to?

In committee, ACTO, the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, summarized how broken our illegal-eviction protection laws are. They did a review of how many tenants get back into their home after a bad-faith eviction: essentially none. And then they did a review of what the average fine is that a bad landlord gets if they illegally evict a tenant: It’s between $500 and $3,000. How do you expect Bill 97 to be effective if the Landlord and Tenant Board is not issuing significant fines to landlords that illegally evict?

My question is to the member from Perth–Wellington. We are riding neighbours, and I was just wondering if he would be able to elaborate a little bit more on what this bill will do for our connected and shared communities, and especially how this can help in rural Ontario.

Listen, I know that the member opposite doesn’t support the $6.5 million that the government is spending to effectively double the amount of adjudicators and also add those very important staff administrative positions to the tribunal. In my speech, I mentioned the Attorney General; he’s looked at this measure very much in detail. We believe, as a government, that having that significant influx of dollars in the Landlord and Tenant Board to effectively double adjudication services with staff support is going to go a long way toward creating that balance. To have a tribunal, it’s all about the balance in terms of the process.

I appreciate that there are a number of voices, both on the tenant side and from the landlord side, that are a little apprehensive because the measures have not been fully implemented, but I have great faith in the Attorney General in making sure that those improvements will result in a fair system.

Thank you to my great colleague from Kitchener–Conestoga for his question. Yes, I’m happy to talk about Bill 97. Obviously, we have a lot of renters in our riding, so it’s protecting the renters there as well in rural Ontario but also, as I alluded to in my remarks—the proposed PPS—giving the flexibility. As the member from Kitchener–Conestoga knows, what works in downtown Toronto—no offence to my colleagues in downtown Toronto—will not work in Elmira or Milverton or Listowel, in our respective areas. Giving those municipalities the flexibility to decide settlement areas and settlement boundaries, again—and reducing duplication, Speaker, because what I hear and I’m sure all of my colleagues in government hear from our builders and others, even from municipalities, is the amount of duplication in the planning process and the site-control planning process, for example. We’re ensuring we reduce that so we get more homes built faster in all parts of Ontario.

Questions?

I truly appreciated listening to everyone contribute to this conversation this morning. I really tuned in to the member from Perth–Wellington. He talked about partnerships with municipalities who will create homes for Ontarians that need these homes today, tomorrow and the next day.

I used to sit on school council, and we were constantly dealing with matters: There were too many kids in the school, or there were fewer than we needed, just because of a fluctuation in the developments and what was being developed in my neighbourhood.

My question is, we’ve always said that transformational change is necessary. Can the member—either the minister or the member from Perth–Wellington—please outline how this plan aligns with the commitments we made for the people of Ontario?

Thank you to my honourable colleague for the question. As my colleague mentioned, Speaker, we are actually taking actions. That’s why, as mentioned in my remarks about the Home Construction Regulatory Authority, fines are being implemented right now as I speak. HCRA has already fined a few construction companies and developers. Again, we encourage individuals, if they come across a situation, to please reach out to HCRA. As a ministry, we have given the tools to HCRA to use those tools to make sure that bad actors are accountable for their actions.

But what I would appreciate is that my honourable colleagues would, I hope, vote for this bill to make sure, when we talk about a cooling-off period, that they support the cooling-off period by voting in favour of this bill and make sure—

Response? The member from Perth–Wellington.

Third reading debate deemed adjourned.

Thank you to my colleague from Thornhill. As we made very clear almost a year—Friday’s a year. In the election last year, we made a very clear commitment to build 1.5 million homes, and I’d also like to highlight the two other major parties in this place also committed to doing that.

We’re actually taking action on that, Speaker, which this housing supply action plan bill does in Bill 97 through our protections for tenants and homebuyers, but also, again, the proposed provincial planning statement and those aspects, even in the city of Thornhill, reducing duplication and ensuring that there’s one planning document. Right now, there are two, and that causes confusion and extra red tape for housing construction. So working with—whether that’s mixed use, whether that’s condos, whether that’s semi-detached housing, ensuring those houses get built in all communities across Ontario.

Last week, I had the opportunity to celebrate the anniversaries of two amazing organizations in my riding of Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock. In Bobcaygeon, the Boyd Heritage Museum celebrated their 25th anniversary. They’ve spent over two decades working to preserve the economic, social and political legacy of Mossom Boyd, who arrived in Upper Canada in 1833 and became known as the lumber king of the Trent Valley. The history of he and his family are catalogued in artifacts from all significant points in his life, from humble beginnings to national and international success, from tools and log shanties to gorgeous 19th century gowns and dresses. The collections are so exquisite, the exhibit is known as the Downton Abbey of Bobcaygeon. Barb has been at the helm of this fantastic museum which has allowed the community of Bobcaygeon in the Kawartha Lakes region to remain connected to their history.

In the town of Lindsay, the Lindsay Lions Club celebrated their 70th anniversary. The Lions are made up of dedicated men and women who commit their time to help those less fortunate by working with local organizations such as the Ross Memorial Hospital, the Canadian Diabetes Association, the Salvation Army food banks, Five Counties Children’s Centre and more to deliver help to those in need.

It was heartwarming to see so many volunteers of the community passionate about their service. With their youngest Lioness, Ellie, the future of this wonderful program is in good and capable hands. I’d like to wish them 70 more years of success.