Thank you to the member for Markham–Unionville for that very important question.

Our government knows that welcoming economic immigrants who have the skills we need is crucial to building a strong Ontario. In 2021, the Premier and I called on the federal government to double the number of immigrants we can select. I’m pleased to share that the federal government met us at the table and, together, we got it done. Our immigrant nominee program will be doubling in size, allowing us to nominate over 18,000 immigrants by 2025. Last year, we nominated 3,900 skilled trades workers, 2,200 software and IT workers, 1,000 truck drivers, and nearly 100 nurses and PSWs. Doubling this program by 2025 means we can select more workers with these skills to fill gaps in industries that need it most.

My question is for the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

Every day in Ontario, jobs go unfilled because of a shortage of workers. One senior economist recently said, “There’s a traffic jam of employers looking to hire.”

Information from Statistics Canada shows record-high job vacancy numbers and an unprecedented labour force participation rate.

To combat the labour shortage and maintain Ontario’s economic competitive position within the global market, we need more skilled workers than ever before.

Can the minister please explain how our government is addressing our labour shortage needs?

It’s also necessary to highlight that our government must consider the importance of where newcomers settle and build their lives in Ontario. Urgent labour demands are present across our province, including regions outside major cities.

Can the minister please elaborate on how our government will ensure that communities in need have the ability to fill critical labour shortages?

I want to thank the member from Barrie–Innisfil for her leadership in this House and for standing up for families against the aggressive federal Liberal carbon tax that is raising the costs on all families and all small businesses in this economy.

In addition to opposing that carbon tax by the federal government, we are also providing direct financial relief to parents. In fact, we have done it three times—$1.9 billion over the past three years in direct financial relief to parents, to help support them and their kids getting back on track.

We just unveiled Ontario’s catch-up payments. I’m proud to confirm that 80% of parents have signed up for this $200 payment for every child under 18 and $250 for every child with special education needs—now, there is still 20% of parents who haven’t, and I’m encouraging all members to promote this investment: ontario.ca/catchuppayments. Apply today; get the relief families deserve.

In budget 2023, we’ve reaffirmed our commitment to publicly funded schools. We increased investments for Ontario children by $2.3 billion overall, even on a baseline evaluation. It’s up $1.3 billion from the year prior.

Mr. Speaker, we know there’s more to do. It’s why we launched a tutoring program—$175 million focused on getting back to the fundamentals and the basics of education, lifting up reading, writing and math skills, and refocusing the system back on strengthening skills and development in our school system. We have a modern curriculum mandating financial literacy and coding and transferrable hands-on learning that we know is critical for these young people to succeed in the economy.

Finally, we’re expanding the skilled trades and technology opportunities—requiring students to now take a tech course, starting next September, opening up their horizons and their opportunities to get good-paying jobs in this economy.

Like mine last night—Bill 56? Really? That’s really rich.

My question is for the Premier.

Over 98,000 people have signed online petitions calling for a vulnerable persons alert. Today I’m joined by the family of Draven Graham, the Ontario Autism Coalition, and the Alzheimer’s Society of Ontario, who came here to support Bill 74. Bill 74, if passed, would provide police forces with an additional tool to bring home our vulnerable loved ones who go missing. Time is critical in these situations, and a vulnerable persons alert would provide a useful solution to help protect people.

Currently, Bill 74 has been referred to the Standing Committee on Justice Policy. Can the Premier provide us with a date on when this bill will be studied before the committee?

Bill 74 looks to fill a gap in our current emergency alert system. Speaker, did you know that six in 10 people with dementia will wander? A vulnerable persons alert could expand the demographic of vulnerable people—so the alert would be broadened to ensure that people who wander would be brought home, and it would save lives.

Can the government House leader commit to bringing Bill 74 back from committee after changes are made, so that it can be debated and passed into legislation as quickly as possible?

The supplementary question.

My question is for the Premier.

The affordability crisis is hitting Ontario families hard. The price of everything has gone up—groceries have gone up, rents have gone up, interest rates have gone up. The price of hydro, folks, is higher than it has ever been.

Families work hard every day, and they feel like they’re falling further and further behind. They’re looking for something to make their lives just a little bit easier. And when they see this budget, they can’t find anything to make their lives just a little bit easier—in fact, there are things that the government isn’t doing in our schools and in health care that’s actually making life harder for them.

Instead of making people’s lives just a little bit easier, this government is actually making life harder. Just why is that?

If you own lots of land in the greenbelt, guess what, folks? The Premier’s got your back.

Speaker, through you: Why is this government abandoning Ontario’s families in an affordability crisis?

Members will please take their seats.

To respond, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Stop the clock.

It seems somewhat strange that I can’t hear the government House leader because of the heckling from the government side when the government House leader is answering the question.

Interjections.

Start the clock.

The government House leader has a few more seconds.

Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Premier.

Homelessness is a disability justice issue. We’ve known for years that people without housing are disproportionately disabled—many with multiple health conditions.

This week, a report indicated that from June to November 2022, 22 people died in Hamilton while homeless.

Harm reduction strategies, including community mental health services, crisis supports and drug overdose supports, are all inadequately resourced.

When people end up on the street, our responses to their complex needs cannot be to criminalize homelessness and then to ignore them in death.

Mr. Speaker, the government’s budget proves that they do not understand the urgency of this issue.

When will the government take real steps to end homelessness in Ontario?

Interjections.

This patchwork system does not work.

People are best supported in the long term when they have access to fixed, permanent housing as an important form of harm reduction. Affordable housing with full access to tenant legal protections is critically important, because it’s a basic human need, and it’s under the provincial jurisdiction.

Again to the Premier: People are dying. This budget won’t end homelessness in Hamilton. When will the government take this problem seriously?

Thank you to the member again for his leadership and for this question.

Speaker, we know that all parts of Ontario benefit from the skills and hard work of economic immigrants. That is why our immigrant nominee program prioritizes those looking to move to communities outside of the greater Toronto area. To ensure these professionals can start working as quickly as possible, budget 2023 is investing $25 million over the next three years for security and IT upgrades.

Through our first Working for Workers Act, we removed discriminatory barriers that hold back internationally trained professionals, and we’re recognizing their credentials.

Our mission is very simple: We’re going to build a stronger Ontario for the next generation.

I want to thank the member for Hamilton Centre for her first question in the House.

Speaker, there are a lot of things that the member opposite has said that I fundamentally disagree with, but there’s one thing that I think she can agree with me on, and that’s that we’ve got a great mayor in Hamilton. We’ve got a great mayor in Hamilton, who has signed on to our housing pledge to build 47,000 homes in the city over the next 10 years.

Again, I fundamentally disagree with her characterization of our budget. Our budget stands up for the Homelessness Prevention Program. It stands up for those wraparound services that mayors like the mayor of Hamilton have asked for. It directly responds to the big-city mayors—that includes Hamilton.

We will continue to work with mayors like Andrea Horwath on meeting our housing target moving forward.

It is my honour to stand up for the first time as the Associate Minister of Housing.

I’d also like to congratulate the member on her election.

All members in this House want to prevent homelessness in this province, but this is a government that has taken real action. The $202-million investment announced in the budget has been well-received by organizations right across Ontario—“Housing is a human right and everyone deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. While we work toward that goal, the Ontario Alliance to End Homelessness is pleased to see this significant investment in homelessness services from the government of Ontario.”

Speaker, I really do hope the opposition joins us and supports our investments. But do you know what? There are shovels in the ground across this province building more non-profit and affordable housing, thanks to the changes we’ve made under the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022. Unfortunately, the opposition would rather tax those—

Mr. Speaker, the people of Ontario work hard, and we understand that taxpayers are under pressure. That’s why we took action last year in many areas, when costs were rising—to keep costs down with the temporary gas tax cut that we confirmed in the fall economic statement made permanent, and yet the opposition voted against those both times. That’s why this government is taking a targeted approach, and we’re supporting people while building a strong Ontario for the future.

We’re investing in Ontario’s workers with an additional $224 million to the Skills Development Fund to get workers into those well-paying jobs.

We’ve increased health funding $15.3 billion over three years, and we’re building 50 new hospital projects—expansions and renovations. We’re doing that right now.

We have the right plan. We’re taking a responsible, prudent approach to address the economic challenges and support the people of Ontario.

My question is for the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

The people of my riding of Niagara West have seen first-hand the devastating consequences of mental health challenges and addictions in Niagara. We’ve seen the losses from these challenges, and we know that the losses are devastating for loved ones and have a significant impact on our broader community.

Our government is committed to building awareness and reducing stigma related to mental health and addiction challenges. I know that through investments in community support, progress has been made, but the demand for services in my riding and so many others continues at an unprecedented rate, and our government must act to ensure that Ontarians are able to get access to the care they need, when and where they need it.

Could the associate minister please explain to this House what our government is doing to ensure that all individuals facing mental health challenges and addictions care are being supported here in the province of Ontario?

Mr. Speaker, let me just say this: If the member really wants to do something about affordability then he can join us in calling on the federal government, supported by the NDP, to at least pause the 14% increase in the carbon tax hitting the people of the province of Ontario on April 1.

My question is for the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

While it is positive and welcome news that our Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program will be doubling in size to expand our workforce, we must recognize that newcomers can be exposed to the risk of exploitation at work. Human trafficking and exploitation are horrendous crimes that often go unreported. Sadly, these crimes are still happening in Canada and here in Ontario.

Trafficking exploitation exists in many forms and takes advantage of systemic issues such as poverty, inequity, employer discrimination, unsafe working conditions, and gaps in employment policy. Regardless of the cause, the outcomes are devastating, resulting in physical, psychological and emotional trauma to victims.

Can the minister please explain how our government is protecting vulnerable workers from labour exploitation?

The Working for Workers Act is a positive step toward cracking down on exploitation and ensuring that the rights of everyone who is working here in Ontario are protected.

However, we know from police reports that labour trafficking and abuse of vulnerable workers happens far too often. The reality is that the victims are often in precarious work situations and are afraid to come forward.

Under the strong leadership of the Premier and this minister, our government is committed to the safety, health and well-being of workers.

While Ontario needs workers to strengthen and grow our province, workers need our government to make sure they are protected.

Can the minister please elaborate on how this legislation, if passed, would implement and enforce measures to protect vulnerable workers?

Thank you to the member opposite for the question.

No, this is an unacceptable situation. This should not have happened, and I feel very badly for that person who waited 11 days for someone to come and see them.

Our government has made significant investments into home care. A strong home and community care sector is critical to our government’s plan to end hallway health care and build a patient-centred, connected system. That’s why a few years ago—last year, we invested an additional billion dollars to improve the quality of care and keep the people of Ontario in their homes longer with the care that they need.

We like the model at the Southlake hospital, Southlake@home, which has the home care provider meeting with the person who is going to receive the care in the hospital, so they can meet the doctor, the nurse and get the discharge papers, so that person will know that the person will be there and when. We want to make sure that that’s the kind of system we have across Ontario, so people get home care which is appropriate and can stay out of hospital and get well.

As this government has said many times, the only thing better than care close to home is care at home. In partnership with hospitals, primary care and our Ontario Health teams, Ontario is expanding and improving access to home and community care.

Through the 2022 budget, the government announced a plan to invest a billion dollars over three years to get more people connected to care in the comfort of their own home, but our government is now, through this budget, accelerating investments to bring funding in 2023-24 up to $569 million, including nearly $300 million to support contract rate increases to stabilize the home and community care workforce. This funding will also expand home care services and improve the quality of care, making it easier and faster for people to connect to care.

Having strong home and community care for people like Barbara is a key part of this government’s plan for connected and convenient care.

Thank you to the fantastic member from Niagara West.

This gives me an opportunity to speak about the investments that we’re making in our new budget and how we’re going to help those who are doing the heavy lifting in the province in the fight against opioid overdoses.

With an additional investment of $425 million over three years, we’re providing the community mental health and addictions sector its first base funding increase in 10 years. By providing a 5% increase in funding across the board for community mental health and addictions organizations, we’re stabilizing the sector, ensuring staff can be retained, and making it clear to the people of Ontario that we’re treating these issues with the seriousness they deserve.

I want to end the response with a quote from the CEO from CMHA, who said that the budget is “an overwhelmingly positive sign that the government understands the strain our sector is facing as we support Ontarians living with”—

The supplementary question?