It’s a pleasure to lead off third reading debate for the proposed More Homes Built Faster Act. But I wanted to make sure that the Minister of the Environment had a chance to do his unanimous consent—and I see that the Minister of Red Tape Reduction, the Associate Minister of Housing and I all have our red ties on today. I think we can all agree in this House, no matter what political stripe you hold, that we’re so immensely proud of Canada’s men’s soccer team and we all wish them all the best. We wish them much success at this World Cup—something that many Ontarians, especially of my vintage, have been waiting for for decades. It’s a great day to be a Canadian.

The bill that we’re debating in third reading today supports our government’s third housing supply action plan—you heard that correctly, Speaker—in three years. Our government made housing such a priority because we know that too many Ontarians are finding it hard to find the right home and things are getting more challenging for them. This isn’t specific to any generation or age group. It’s difficult for young people who are eager to raise a family in the community of their choice. It’s also difficult for newcomers who are coming to Canada and ready to put down roots and start a new life. We’re also seeing seniors who are looking to downsize and find a home where they can stay near their family and near their loved ones. It’s not just limited to one part of our province. It’s not just a big-city problem. The housing shortage affects all Ontarians, whether they live in rural or urban areas, or suburban areas, and whether they live in the north or the south of our province.

Speaker, the problem we’re dealing with in Ontario is clear: There simply isn’t enough housing to meet the demands of our growing province.

We knew, as a government, that we needed to get a plan in place to build more homes faster. And I’m so pleased that this plan, which has been tabled and has finished second reading and has gone to committee and now is here today for third reading, has already received high praise from so many housing partners and beyond. A news release issued by the Ontario Real Estate Association—many people in this House met with OREA members; some even were at the conference to hear President Clinton speak—said it’s “just what the doctor ordered when it comes to getting more homes for families built faster right across the province.”

I’m going to quote another individual I’ve come to meet and to work with over the last four years, who I respect immensely, and that’s Justin Marchand, the CEO of Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services. Here’s what Mr. Marchand said: “The Ford government is taking a balanced approach to ensure the needs of existing residents are respected ... while also ensuring there are new opportunities for new residents and a growing Ontario.” He went on to say that the proposed legislation “strongly supports economic growth, while simultaneously supporting municipalities to build stronger, more vibrant and resilient communities.”

David Wilkes, president and CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association, said, “The plan introduced ... by the government is the clear, powerful transformation we need to solve our housing supply and affordability crisis.”

Joseph Mancinelli of the Labourers’ International Union of North America said that our bill is “a positive step forward in building a transformational action plan that will cut red tape and invest in critical housing infrastructure while spurring economic development and creating thousands of jobs for our members and men and women across the skilled trades.”

I want to thank Mr. Mancinelli and LIUNA for their strong support and their strong partnership in moving forward with getting our skilled trades and housing connected.

I could go on, Speaker, but it is clear that many people and many organizations across this province support the initiatives we’re proposing. The many stakeholders who have praised the plan all agree that it’s balanced, transformative and much needed—and “much needed” is a key phrase, because Ontario is in a housing supply crisis. There are far too many hard-working Ontarians looking for homes that meet their needs and their budget.

Our government’s proposed More Homes Built Faster Act would support our goal of building 1.5 million homes over the next decade. It proposes bold action to meet that goal. This bill also builds on the dozens of pieces of legislation, regulations and overall policies that our government has introduced over the last four years, under the leadership of Premier Ford, to help build more housing.

The actions we’ve taken are working well, but more needs to be done to address this evolving housing supply crisis.

Speaker, there are many Ontarians who work hard day in and day out but who cannot find a home of their own that they can afford.

Statistics Canada reports that houses are about 300% more expensive in Toronto than in the 1990s. It’s not your parents’ or your grandparents’ housing market anymore. The impact is very severe.

For example, the Generation Squeeze Lab at the University of British Columbia, in a report funded by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., calculated that it would take the typical young person in the greater Toronto area 27 years of full-time employment to save for a 20% down payment on the average-priced house.

It’s no exaggeration to say that we need an all-hands-on-deck approach to get homes built as quickly as we can to meet this enormous demand and desperate need that is in Ontario today.

On top of the housing crisis we’re currently experiencing, we expect that Ontario’s population is going to grow by over two million people by 2031, and we expect that approximately 1.5 million of that will be right here in the greater Golden Horseshoe. That’s why—and this is very important—we need both near- and long-term plans and solutions to deal with the current housing shortage and to deal with the growth-fuelled demand for housing that we know is coming. We know that the demand for housing in the greater Golden Horseshoe and in Ontario is going to get even more fuelled because of population growth.

The other thing I want to say is that this is not some abstract point that I’m trying to make here today. The dream of home ownership is being dashed, and so many well-intentioned, talented people are struggling to find attainable housing for themselves and for their families. This is the reality that many Ontarians are facing. This is the reality that our government must continue to work on to help change.

The task before us is enormous, but like any task, it’s accomplished one step at a time. So let’s look at the steps that this government has put forward to help deal with that problem.

In 2019, our first housing supply action plan, More Homes, More Choice, made very important strides to speed up planning timelines, it made development costs more predictable, Madam Speaker—it’s great to see you in the chair this morning—it made it easier to build laneway homes and basement suites, and it further harmonized provincial and national building codes. We know that those changes were effective—and Madam Speaker, now that you’re in the chair, I want to make sure you realize that I’m going be sharing my time with the Associate Minister of Housing and the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. And I want to again welcome you to the chair this morning. It’s great to see you there.

We know that the changes in our first housing supply action plan, More Homes, More Choice, were effective, because last year, 2021, we had 100,000 housing starts, which was the most that this province has seen since 1987, in over 30 years. We also know that the 30-year average for housing starts was about 67,500. So we look at last year—significant growth in housing starts that made it effective. A lot of those extra starts were due to our first housing supply action plan. But we knew we had to do more.

So we released our second housing supply action plan, More Homes for Everyone, earlier this year. The second action plan built upon our first and helped to speed up approvals even further. It set out steps to gradually refund fees if municipal planning decisions weren’t made within legislative time frames. It also created new tools, like the Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator. This tool will give municipalities the opportunity to work in partnership with the province to unlock lands for priority housing and lands for key infrastructure needed to support more homes.

I want to stress that we built our second housing supply action plan on feedback from the public and feedback from stakeholders, while also heeding the recommendations from our Housing Affordability Task Force. We appointed industry leaders and experts to our task force, and they recommended strong measures that could increase the supply of market housing in Ontario. The task force completed its report to the government this past February. In their report, they recommended measures the government could take to increase the supply of housing. They noted that the roots of the housing supply problem were decades in the making. They also noted that past efforts to cool the housing market gave only temporary relief to homebuyers. The task force said we have to start thinking long-term, and they echoed the government’s alarm on the housing supply front.

The reason we needed to move forward was clear to us. We had to move quickly.

The task force identified bottlenecks that occur because of delays in approvals for development and zoning applications. They noted that this has to be addressed if we’re going to get shovels in the ground faster to create new construction. They also pointed out that these approvals are often delayed or hindered because of opposition from members of local municipal councils. Too often, we hear excuses similar to, “I’m not against increased density; it’s just not in the right neighbourhood.” We hear that all the time. These sorts of objections have to stop being a barrier to creating homes for people to move into.

That’s why we passed the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act in September. The legislation and its accompanying regulations give the mayors of our two biggest cities, Toronto and Ottawa, more authority to move forward provincial-municipal priorities like building more homes in their communities.

We followed up on that introduction with our Better Municipal Governance Act last week. The act, if passed, would take decisive action to address the housing supply crisis by assessing how best to extend strong-mayor powers and reduce municipal duplication to deliver on our shared provincial-municipal priorities—primarily the building of 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years.

Madam Speaker, all of the work that we’ve done on the housing front leads us here today.

The task force’s work has been invaluable to our government and is our long-term housing road map; it’s the long-term view of how we can deal with housing supply. Their recommendations are guiding the work that we’re speaking about today in the More Homes Built Faster Act—the policies and the tools that will help us build more multi-unit housing, get that gentle density that will enable Ontario to accommodate those in need of attainable housing.

Our proposed act and the new housing supply action plan contain numerous measures that will help address the housing crisis. The measures range from reducing government fees to fixing development-approval delays that slow down construction and increase costs.

The government is going to create a new attainable housing program to drive the development of housing across the province. I look forward to working with the Minister of Infrastructure, the Honourable Kinga Surma, on creating this program that would really leverage these unused government assets.

Other measures in the bill include increasing the Non-Resident Speculation Tax to defer non-resident investors from speculating on the province’s housing market, and freezing, reducing and exempting government charges to spur more new construction and further reduce the cost of housing.

Our proposed act would require building more density near transit. It would unlock innovative approaches to design and construction, and it would remove red tape to get shovels in the ground faster.

It would also make it easier to build small housing projects, speeding up all of those housing proposals while ensuring that building permits and our very robust building and fire code requirements would continue to protect public safety.

We’re also proposing to help speed up proceedings at the Ontario Land Tribunal. This would help us to resolve cases more efficiently and streamline processes by allowing for regulations to prioritize cases that would meet certain conditions, as well as establishing service standards—something that I think everyone in this House can agree with.

Other measures would double maximum fines for unethical builders and vendors of new homes who unfairly cancel projects or terminate purchase agreements—very important.

We’re also proposing to update Ontario’s heritage policies by introducing legislative and regulatory amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act. These changes will increase the threshold for heritage designation, and it would update guidelines for the conservation of provincial heritage projects. These changes continue to support the conservation of heritage resources that are so important in Ontario, while providing both clarity and flexibility to ensure that critical housing and other priority projects can move forward in a timely manner.

We have also been in the process of consulting with the public, with stakeholders, with municipalities, and engaging with Indigenous communities to review provincial housing and land use policies to find ways that we can remove barriers to get housing built faster.

Madam Speaker, these are just a few of the many proposed changes that we’re speaking to here today with this bill

I’m going to leave the finer details of the proposed act to be elaborated on by my colleagues the Associate Minister of Housing and the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the member for Thunder Bay–Atikokan.

Before I turn the floor over to the associate minister, I want to speak to the committee hearings on the bill. Our government values expert, stakeholder and public input. That’s why four separate public hearings were held to gather feedback on the bill. I want to thank the government House leader for his work in that regard, and the committee. We have acted on the suggestions, recommendations and questions that we heard through committee.

In particular, we’ve introduced amendments that will ensure municipalities can continue to promote green standards that will lead to more energy-efficient buildings.

We will always support common-sense measures that balance the need to build more homes with concern for efficiency and the environment. That balance is precisely what our bill achieves, and it’s what Ontarians expect.

Achieving the goal of building 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years is not easy. A housing crisis that’s many decades in the making can’t be fixed overnight. But the proposed More Homes Built Faster Act and its corresponding plan are part of a very strong foundation that our government is laying so that we can start construction as soon as possible.

We need to ensure that housing keeps up with growth. In partnership with municipalities, the private sector, non-profits and the federal government, we believe as a government that we can get this done.

Our government is following through on the commitment that we made to Ontarians, and we are counting on the support of others to help us with this important priority. We are going to get it done. We made that promise in June to the people of Ontario. We are going to deliver on it, and we are going to deliver on changes to our policies, as the housing supply issue evolves.

I’m now very pleased to pass the torch over to my great friend Associate Minister Michael Parsa to continue the conversation.

Point of order.

Good morning. Let us pray.

Prayers.

Mr. Clark moved third reading of the following bill:

Bill 23, An Act to amend various statutes, to revoke various regulations and to enact the Supporting Growth and Housing in York and Durham Regions Act, 2022 / Projet de loi 23, Loi modifiant diverses lois, abrogeant divers règlements et édictant la Loi de 2022 visant à soutenir la croissance et la construction de logements dans les régions de York et de Durham.

I’ll look to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to lead off the third reading debate.

I want to thank the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for sharing his time with me today. I can tell you, Speaker, that I speak on behalf of my constituents of Aurora–Oak Ridges–Richmond Hill, and I thank him for his leadership and his relentless pursuit to make sure that the housing crisis we are facing in this province is dealt with.

Thank you very much, Minister Clark, for all that you’re doing.

Madam Speaker, as I mentioned, his advocacy for Bill 23 and his presentation—that was very clear that there is a desperate need for these measures in this proposed legislation.

It is my privilege to expand on some of the details of our government’s proposed More Homes Built Faster Act.

Before I begin, I do want to reiterate the minister’s point that our government has been seeking feedback on several points of our proposed legislation. We’ve been listening to stakeholders and consulting with the public.

As the minister also said—it’s very important for me to repeat, Madam Speaker—this bill is based on recommendations from the industry and stakeholder experts of the Housing Affordability Task Force. The task force was created in December of last year and chaired by Jake Lawrence, the CEO and group head of global banking and markets at Scotiabank. In his role, he worked alongside a diverse range of experts in non-profit housing, Indigenous housing, real estate, home builders, financial markets, and economics. They all brought their extensive knowledge and expertise together to provide recommendations that we are using as a road map to help solve the housing crisis. We used their recommendations as the basis for the proposed More Homes Built Faster Act.

This proposed legislation is a very important part of our long-term strategy to increase the housing supply in our province and to provide attainable housing options for hard-working Ontarians and their families.

Speaker, a major objective of this bill is to address the missing-middle housing in our communities by increasing gentle density. First, we plan to do this by building on a suite of as-of-right residential tools which Ontario has provided to municipalities since 2019.

We are also proposing changes to the Planning Act to create a new province-wide standard threshold for what’s allowed to be built, and we intend to do this by strengthening the additional-residential-unit framework.

If passed, our proposed legislation would allow, as of right, up to three residential units on most land that is currently zoned for one home in residential areas. This would be allowed without the need for a municipal bylaw amendment. Depending on the property in question, these three units could all be within the existing residential structure, or, for example, they could take the form of a main home with an in-law or basement suite, or a laneway or garden home. Of course, these new units would need to be compliant with the building code and with the relevant municipal bylaws. I’m proud to say that these units would be exempt from development charges and parkland dedication fees.

We’re also proposing changes to the Planning Act to ensure that complete and sustainable communities are built near and centred around transit hubs. This complements the historic investment our government has made in transit expansion in communities across the province. The changes we propose to the Planning Act would help move us forward towards as-of-right zoning, to meet minimum density targets for projects that are planned to be near major transit stations. If passed, this would reduce approval timelines and get shovels in the ground faster. Our goal is that once the key development policies for major transit stations are approved, municipalities would then have one year to update their zoning bylaws to meet those minimum density targets.

Speaker, our proposed More Homes Built Faster Act would, if passed, help to create the conditions for building more affordable and purpose-built rental housing right across the province. We’re proud to be proposing regulatory changes that would give certainty around inclusionary zoning rules. To build more affordable housing, we’ve proposed a maximum 25-year affordability period, a 5% cap on the number of inclusionary zoning units, and a standardized approach to determining the price for rent of an affordable unit under an inclusionary zoning program.

We also propose to support the creation of very specific, very needed types of housing, such as attainable housing, affordable housing, rental housing and non-profit housing, all by reducing government fees. We know that government charges and fees significantly impact the cost of housing, including certain attainable housing units and non-profit housing developments. As such, we propose to exempt these types of housing from municipal development fees, parkland dedication levies and community benefit charges.

We also propose to reduce development charges for building new rental units. And to help incentivize the development of family-sized rental units, we will ensure deeper development charge discounts would be provided.

My colleague the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing will be going into more detail about our proposed changes to these fees.

Speaker, our proposed More Homes Built Faster Act includes many changes to streamline the bureaucratic processes that can delay the construction of much-needed housing. In it, we propose changes to the Planning Act that would reduce the number of requirements for small projects and speed up the approval process for other housing projects. We also propose to change the role of upper-tier municipalities in the greater Golden Horseshoe, to further speed up the planning approval process.

An exciting inclusion in our action plan is the creation of a new program to be delivered by Infrastructure Ontario with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Ministry of Infrastructure to support the dream of home ownership for all Ontarians across the province. Our proposed new program would make good use of surplus or underutilized land and take advantage of commercial innovation and partnerships to rapidly build attainable homes in mixed-income communities.

Let’s be clear: A home is the biggest purchase that an average person ever makes. It’s the culmination of hard work, perseverance and, for many, it means they have truly achieved the Canadian dream.

Buying a home and arranging financing is stressful enough as it is without having to worry about falling victim to unethical practices from a builder or a vendor of a home when you’re purchasing one. Our government, therefore, proposes to further strengthen the consumer protections that are in place for new home buyers. And we propose to double the maximum fines for builders and vendors of new homes who unfairly cancel projects or terminate purchase agreements. These proposed changes would be under the New Home Construction Licensing Act. If passed, they would increase the existing maximum financial penalties from $25,000 to $50,000 per infraction. And let’s make clear that there would be no limit to additional monetary benefit penalties that could be imposed, as our proposed legislation would retroactively impose fines for contraventions that occurred on or after April 14, 2022. These changes, if passed, would also enable the Home Construction Regulatory Authority to use funds from these penalties to provide money back to affected consumers. This would make Ontario the first jurisdiction in Canada to provide these types of funds to consumers. If our proposed legislation is passed, the amendments to the New Home Construction Licensing Act would come into force in early 2023.

This past January, our government hosted the Ontario-municipal housing summit. At that summit, Ontario’s mayors expressed concerns that lands planned for residential development in their communities are sitting empty. They said no development is occurring because homebuilders are taking too long to complete their planning applications. So we looked into it and consulted on the issue of land speculation. We wanted to determine just how detrimental this is to the housing supply goals of our government. We will continue to gather input in the coming months to assess the impact on housing supply, and we won’t be shy about taking action to continue to speed up the planning approvals process.

Another piece of legislation that our proposed bill would amend, if passed, is the Ontario Heritage Act. These changes would increase the threshold for heritage designation and update guidelines for the conservation of provincial heritage properties. Make no mistake, Speaker, these changes would continue to support the conservation of heritage resources that are important to Ontarians, but they will provide the clarity and flexibility needed to ensure that critical housing and other priority projects can move forward in a timely manner. On top of this, until the end of December, our government will continue consulting on how it manages Ontario’s natural heritage so we can improve the way we manage the province’s wetlands while supporting sustainable growth and development.

Speaker, we’re also consulting with stakeholders and the public on how to integrate A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe with the provincial policy statement. Our goal is a single, province-wide planning policy document. This consultation is seeking input on how to address the overlapping planning policies that are currently in place right across our province. And we’ll continue to work towards developing a more streamlined provincial policy document that is easier to implement and that gives municipalities more flexibility so that they can address their housing needs faster.

Speaker, it’s all hands on deck to get housing built, and it will require the partnership of all levels of government. As a result, we’re calling on the federal government to come to the table and work with us on potential GST/HST incentives for housing. This could take the form of rebates, exemptions or deferrals of GST and HST to support new home ownership right across the province and new rental housing developments. As I and Minister Clark have stated on many, many occasions, no one level of government can solve today’s housing crisis alone. Indeed, all levels of government—federal, provincial, municipal—need to work together if we are to get more homes built and to address the housing crisis of our province.

Speaking of taxes, let me talk for a moment about property tax assessments, which are currently established using the same methodology as regular market rental properties. We intend to explore possible refinements to the methodology that is used to assess affordable rental housing to better reflect the reduced rents collected by these housing providers. In addition, we would consult with our municipal partners on potential approaches to reducing the current property tax burden on multi-residential apartment buildings in the province.

Similarly, while we’re on the topic of taxes: This winter, if our proposed legislation is passed, we intend to consult on a policy framework that would set out the key elements of a municipal vacant home tax. As it is right now, only a handful of municipalities in Ontario have the authority to charge a vacant home tax on unoccupied residential units. We want to establish a provincial-municipal working group that would consult on a framework that could be used by interested municipalities across Ontario. This group could also be a vehicle for the province and municipalities to share information and best practices on dealing with vacant homes.

Speaker, I’m also pleased to confirm that, effective October 25, 2022, Ontario has the highest and most comprehensive Non-Resident Speculation Tax in Canada. At 25% and province-wide, this initiative is meant to further discourage foreign speculation in Ontario’s housing market.

I’m very proud of the work our government has done to get more homes built in Ontario. We understand that owning a home is the pillar of the Canadian dream—a sign of hard work, accomplishment and pride. Just as my family had the opportunity when they first came to Canada, we will not stop until the dream of home ownership is back within reach for all Ontarians. As I said before, and as the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing has stated—and the parliamentary assistants and all our colleagues—everyone deserves a place to call home.

The More Homes Built Faster Act is another step forward in our work to solve the housing crisis. And it won’t be our last step. We will introduce a new housing supply action plan in each year of our mandate. We will use these plans to continue to implement the Housing Affordability Task Force’s recommendations. This will help our government deliver real and long-term solutions for the people of Ontario.

We made a promise to the people of this province that we will build 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. And I just want to make sure that it is crystal clear—make no mistake—that we are going to keep that promise.

I want to thank you very much for the opportunity, Madam Speaker.

I would now like to give the floor to the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Kevin Holland, to take it from here.

The Associate Minister of Housing.

I want to thank both the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Associate Minister of Housing for sharing their time with me today, as well as to thank them for their commitment and dedication to addressing the housing supply crisis in Ontario.

I am proud to be part of a government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, that takes the necessary action to ensure the growth of Ontario, and, in the case of this bill, make housing easier and within reach for all Ontarians.

That’s why it’s my pleasure to rise for the third reading of our government’s proposed More Homes Built Faster Act.

We can all agree that Ontario is the best place in the world to call home, yet finding the right home is all too challenging. We are dedicated to working with all levels of government to get 1.5 million homes built over the next 10 years. Today I’m honoured to speak to some of the details of how we plan to reach that goal. The proposed changes we are speaking to today advance our new, bold housing supply action plan. It includes numerous initiatives that would help to build more homes in Ontario.

The More Homes Built Faster Act expands on our track record of addressing the housing supply crisis. This is a cross-government initiative, and we’re counting on our partnerships with municipalities, the federal government and those in the housing industry to help us to achieve our goals.

An important element of our newest plan is our commitment to reducing delays and reducing the costs associated with building new housing of all kinds. Delays are contributing to the housing supply shortage, and delays in building housing drive up costs.

A recently released study by the Building Industry and Land Development Association, or BILD, reports that each month a permit is stuck in approvals, costs can increase significantly. They found that over the past two years, development application timelines in the greater Toronto area have gotten 40% longer. They found that, in a typical high-density project, each month of delays amounts to $2,600 to $3,300 in additional construction costs per residential unit. And those costs inevitably trickle down to consumers.

If we can both reduce delays and get the cost of building homes down, we can lower the price for the average homebuyer.

There are a variety of ways that these delays can occur. Opposition from some members of local municipal councils can create delays. It’s an important step in the process to consider all angles and vocalize opposition, as we know. But sadly, even appropriate zoning and development approvals can be hindered because of these disagreements; at times, projects can be abandoned altogether. Even if a project finally gets the go-ahead, significant delays have already occurred.

Other barriers include complex land use policies inhibiting land access in urban areas, coupled with lengthy planning approvals for new housing, on top of high development charges.

The same study by BILD that I mentioned earlier found that approval timelines for major municipalities in the GTA are among the worst in the country. The collective requirements for approvals can add, on average, from 27% to 51% more time on a new build. We need to do better, and this proposed legislation will help us do better.

We must significantly increase the speed at which new homes and units are built so that we can meet existing and future demands. This will also help to lower housing costs for Ontarians, because these barriers and delays, and the resulting high costs, are burdens that builders, renters and homeowners bear.

So we’re proposing to look at ways to improve and streamline how and when things like development charges are required for new builds. Our proposed changes would extend the deadline for replacing a development charge bylaw from every five years to every 10 years, and in doing so would reduce the administrative burden on municipalities. We would also phase in development charges over five years, which would make the increases more manageable for home builders by spreading it out.

On average, 25% of the cost of a new single-family home in the GTA is composed of government fees, taxes and charges. This can add as much as $250,000 to the cost. Municipal charges can account for more than half of that.

In five of our province’s most populous municipalities, BILD has found that development charge rates for a two-bedroom apartment unit exceed $70,000—that’s $70,000 for one unit. As I’ve mentioned, this cost can trickle down to the buyer or renter.

Development charges are just one of the three main charges that municipalities levy when new residential buildings are developed. The other charges are parkland dedication fees, which can be either money or land and are used to create parks, and the second is community benefit charges, which help build infrastructure for services that are needed for higher-density residential developments. If passed, our proposed changes would help spur much-needed residential development by revising the way these charges are levied for a range of housing types.

We know that over the last two years municipal fees and charges have increased as much as 36%. We’re proposing that specific housing options—namely, affordable housing units and inclusionary zoning units—will not be required to pay development charges, parkland dedication fees and community benefit charges. We are also proposing to relieve certain attainable housing projects and non-profit housing developments from all three charges.

Rental construction would have discounted development charges, with deeper discounts for family-sized units. This will help get shovels in the ground for much-needed rental units.

Changes like this would also make it easier for builders to predict the cost of construction.

With our new legislation, we’re proposing ways to freeze these development-related fees. I’ll give you another example of just how we plan to do this. We are proposing changes to freeze parkland dedication bylaw rates earlier in the development process, at the time of the site plan or zoning application, instead of at the time the building permit is issued, which is later in the development process. For higher-density developments, we’re proposing to reduce maximum parkland dedication requirements. For sites that are larger than five hectares, the parkland rate would be no more than 15% of the land or its value. The maximum parkland rate for sites that are five hectares or less would be no more than 10%. This aims to reduce the amount of money it takes to build new condos and apartment buildings and would help make new housing options available to everyone.

Speaker, there is one more type of charge I’d like to address—and that’s our proposed changes to community benefit charges. I mentioned that affordable housing units would not be subject to community benefit charges. We are also adjusting the way maximum community benefit charges are determined, to encourage infill development. We believe that this change would also make it easier to build new housing.

Municipal fees and charges should be collected to build infrastructure, not earn interest. In 2021, the municipal sector self-reported development charge reserve balances province-wide of over $8 billion. With this legislation, we would require that municipalities use or allocate at least 60% of their development charge reserves for services like water, waste water and roads each year. We have put the same requirement in place for parkland dedication reserves as well.

Of course, we know that these fees are big revenue tools for municipalities. That is why we would supplement any shortfall municipalities may see through Ontario’s $1.6-billion portion of the federal Housing Accelerator Fund, because we understand that growing communities need housing today but they also need supporting infrastructure.

With this in mind, our plan would also help to create more consistency around land use planning and would help to decrease the number of disputes that often arise in municipal council meetings due to a lack of clarity. We’re proposing to reduce the number of approvals in the pipeline. We would do this by removing site plan control requirements for residential projects with fewer than 10 units.

Let me elaborate. Site plan control is a municipal planning tool used to evaluate things like landscaping or exterior design, as well as walkways and parking areas in new developments. It’s a tool that works in tandem with the provincial policy statement, official plan, zoning bylaws, community planning permit systems and building permits. By streamlining site plan reviews we can focus on health and safety issues, such as safe access to and from the site, rather than on unnecessary regulation of architectural or aesthetic landscaping design details.

I’d like to underline that we would still ensure that essential building permits, as well as building code and fire code requirements, continue to protect public safety.

Our plan requires bold changes, and it requires well-considered and sound policies. Our housing stock has already fallen behind, and it’s currently not on track to keep pace with population growth.

A recent study by Re/Max Canada found that our housing inventory is depleted, in part, thanks to our rapidly growing population.

As mentioned by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing earlier, Ontario is expected to grow by more than two million people by 2031, with approximately 1.5 million of those new residents in the greater Golden Horseshoe region.

In addition to working with our partner ministries, increasing housing supply across the province needs everyone together on the same side—all levels of government, working alongside industry and non-profits.

When we say we need the support of all of our partners, that includes the federal government as well. CMHC’s own data shows that Ontario is due $480 million in additional funding under the National Housing Strategy. We are counting on Ottawa to come to the table and to fix this shortfall. In the meantime, we’re taking bold action now to keep up with the demand.

As the Associate Minister of Housing mentioned, we are seeking input on how to integrate A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe with the provincial policy statement to create a new outcome-based, province-wide policy document for our municipalities.

Overall, there are six main themes that are shaping our proposed policy review through a housing supply lens. Number one is reviewing policies related to growth management and ensuring enough housing is built in the right places, including through increasing density in strategic areas. This review will also look at specific policies for large and fast-growing municipalities to leverage our government’s investment in infrastructure.

Second is developing a strong mix of housing in areas where urban growth is occurring, building up our attainable building supply.

Third is reviewing policies that relate to rural housing, boundary expansions, and considering changes that would allow for the faster conversion of appropriate employment areas into areas suitable for housing. This will be done through the review of land use planning policies.

Fourth is maintaining our province’s natural heritage, protecting environmental and natural resources and looking at agricultural policies.

Number five includes integrating schools into our urban communities as well as looking at the capacity and the current supply of our community infrastructure.

Last is ensuring our policies have a positive impact, are focused and are flexible enough to keep up with quickly changing demands as we grow as a province.

We know we must be nimble in our approach and create a stable foundation that will allow for growth as it happens. These proposed approaches to breaking down barriers, streamlining processes and cutting costs would further our goal of making housing more attainable for all Ontarians.

As I wrap up, let me take the chance to put this debate into perspective. Our province has a serious housing supply shortage. It is making life unaffordable and unsustainable for too many Ontarians. This is not disputed. It’s often spoken about as a big-city problem, and, indeed, it is a serious crisis here in the greater Toronto area and other major urbanized parts of the province. But the housing supply crisis is also an issue in rural and northern parts of the province. In my community of Thunder Bay–Atikokan, for instance, the demand for attainable and safe housing is serious and growing and needs to be addressed now.

I’m proud that our government is keeping its word to Ontarians and putting the housing supply crisis front and centre. I am proud that we have had the opportunity in recent weeks to introduce several pieces of legislation that will directly address that crisis, and I’m particularly proud of the bill that we are debating today. It is a sweeping, transformative and bold set of proposals that are evidence-based and that will have a direct impact on the housing supply crisis. We are leading innovations that would help to create more housing in Ontario and make it easier for our municipal partners to keep up with ever-growing and changing demands.

Supply and demand are key to reducing costs for housing for all Ontarians. Our proposed changes would help renters cross over and become homeowners by helping to increase the number of homes available to all people.

Everyone in Ontario should be able to find a home that is right for them.

My understanding is that your government never consulted with AMO on the bill.

Mr. Rice, a developer, bought land on the greenbelt in the middle of September for $80 million that is now probably going to be worth a billion dollars. I don’t know who gave them a heads-up on this particular bill.

What I want to ask you is, how will this bill help the Niagara region, where I’m from, take on the financial hardship it will likely face from Bill 23 and the reduction in development fees? The region is responsible for policing, corrections officers—we have a jail in our area—ambulance services, where we have backloads at our hospital, our long-term care—and we know about the 5,000 people who died in long-term care—retirement, water and waste water. How are they going to provide those types of incredible services with less development fees?

The member opposite knows that there’s nothing in Bill 23, which we’re debating today, that deals with that issue.

There are a number of issues, a number of proposals that I highlighted in my speech today that the government is working on, and one of them is consultation. We’ve been encouraging Ontarians to weigh in on our proposals.

At the end of the day, the member acknowledges that 1.5 million homes that we need to build in the next 10 years. She said it, right here on the record. She has said it before. She said it in committee.

Everybody can do the math. Last year was the best year we’ve had in 30 years—100,000 starts. With 100,000 over the next 10 years, we’re going to be far short—500,000 homes short. If you then look at the amount of new Canadians who are going to be moving into our province, we’re going to be even further behind.

So the status quo isn’t working. We need to have bills like Bill 23 move forward so that we can get shovels in the ground faster and we can accelerate the amount of new housing construction. We can’t wait another minute.

We need to have more housing built. We need it to get into the ground faster. The costs of delay in the greater Golden Horseshoe put an additional up to $116,900 on the price of a home.

The development charge exemption—the discussion to either freeze, reduce or exempt the type of housing was a conversation the Premier and I had with big-city mayors and regional chairs in January. We said, “There’s a lot of housing that you need—affordable housing, transitional housing, supportive housing, attainable housing—and you need to incent that type of construction.” Our regime does exactly that with those discounts, with those exemptions and with those reductions.

Great question.

My question is to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

I was in committee, and we had hundreds of written submissions, and many people speaking at the hearings in Markham and Brampton and the two in Toronto, and many people who weren’t able to. The overwhelming theme—there were many, but an overwhelming theme that I heard was the concern that this government is opening up the greenbelt and doubling down on sprawl when there are alternatives.

What is especially concerning is that the government is choosing to open up the greenbelt in areas where there are nine developers who own land there, who gave over $520,000 to the PC Party since 2014. It really smells fishy; an investigation is needed. What is so frustrating is that the Housing Affordability Task Force that this government began made it clear that access to land is not stopping us from achieving our 1.5-million-homes target goal, which is something that we support, that all parties support.

Why are you giving this greenbelt land away to developers who are big PC Party donors, Minister Clark?

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s nice to see you in the chair.

Thank you to the minister, the associate minister and the parliamentary assistant for the great things—I don’t think they feel like they’re working; it’s their passion, commitment and devotion not only for this bill, but bringing more housing.

I think this bill will revolutionize—from day one, in 2019, until now, these three bills will actually revolutionize the process. We’ve heard about a lot of radical talk—here, actually, we are radicalizing the process. I think that this is going to be a paradigm shift, when it comes to the housing supply action plan in Ontario, after 15 years of stagnation from the other side.

There are a lot of DC exemptions. I learned today—I came and asked you this morning. It is so exciting for the residents, for the average resident who is going to benefit. Could you elaborate on that, please?

Questions?

The province is a signatory to Treaty 9, as the minister and associate minister know. I represent seven First Nations on the James Bay coast—six to be exact; the one in Constance Lake is the seventh. There’s such a shortage in housing on the James Bay coast. There are families who live in small homes—three, four generations who live in a small home. There are stacks of mattresses in the living room.

I’ve heard how many homes were built. How many homes did the province help, being signatory to Treaty 9, so we have a—how many homes were built on the James Bay coast to help these communities that are in dire situations in family homes?

I guess it goes back—Speaker, through you to the member—to whether you support keeping the status quo.

If you’re like the member opposite, you might very well think that housing prices are fine in Niagara region. I suggest that there are many, many people who live in Niagara who feel that housing costs are too high—finding out that there’s not enough supply, there’s not enough opportunity to have a house that meets their needs and their budget.

If you agree with that last premise, which I happen to agree with, you need to lower those baseline costs. You need to deal with those fees and charges.

The status quo is not working. I just talked about our best year in 30 years. It’s still not enough to meet the growing demand of Ontario. We’re going to have two million people who are going to come to our province by 2031. We need to act today.

Again, you have to look at whether you’re going to favour the status quo or whether you’re going to put a system in place that incents the type of building you need.

If the member opposite’s municipality needs purpose-built rental, family-sized rental, there’s an opportunity to discount development charges to incent that type of development.

Municipalities were pretty clear—it wasn’t just things that they needed to do; it was things that the province needed to put in place. We needed to make sure they had the tools to get shovels in the ground faster.

This development charge piece is geared exactly for the question that the member has asked.

A point of order, Speaker.

The member from Kitchener–Conestoga.

I’m proud to be here speaking to Bill 23. Bill 23—I have it right here—is An Act to amend various statutes, to revoke various regulations and to enact the Supporting Growth and Housing in York and Durham Regions Act, 2022. It is a massive bill. You must have spent months writing it. It is a sweeping bill. It affects the City of Toronto Act, the Conservation Authorities Act, the Development Charges Act, the Municipal Act, the New Home Construction Licensing Act, the Ontario Heritage Act, the Ontario Land Tribunal Act and the Planning Act, and then it has a new act, the Supporting Growth and Housing in York and Durham Regions Act. It is huge.

My overall assessment of this bill is that it is a pro-sprawl bill that threatens affordability, public services, democracy and farmland.

When I read this bill—and I’ve gone through committee now; I’ve read the written submissions that people submitted. The overall impression I get from the experts who spoke is that this bill will not solve our housing affordability crisis. There is nothing in Bill 23 that will lower the price of buying a home. There is nothing in Bill 23 that will lower the cost of finding a place to rent. In fact, it will make renting more expensive. There is no evidence in this bill that it will be easier for people to find a home and pay off their own mortgage instead of paying off an investor’s mortgage. None of that is in there.

It is also clear that this government does not need to harm democracy, pave over farmland, cut public services, put municipalities in a very difficult financial situation and make life worse for renters in order to meet our housing supply targets. There are other avenues and other ways to go.

I want to talk a little bit about what I learned in committee. I’m going to provide some overall comments, and then I’m going to get into some of the specifics, some written statements, and some presentations that experts gave.

The overall impression I got from the huge amount of information that we received is that—I was struck by the enormity of this bill and its consequences, as well as the consequences that we don’t know yet. We had municipalities, including AMO, the big city mayors, the city of Toronto and the Town of the Blue Mountains, who came and spoke—those who were allowed; AMO wasn’t—who were absolutely alarmed at the impact of cutting developer fees. Ambulance services, roads, transit and daycare subsidies are all impacted.

Regional municipalities, upper-tier municipalities were alarmed that they are losing their power to decide where new homes and new workplaces go, and the densities at which they are built. Regional municipalities are alarmed that this government is cutting down all the planning responsibility that is needed to make sure that we don’t build absolutely unsustainable and expensive suburban sprawl, and we build right, which is to build in the huge amount of land in the GTHA and beyond that is already zoned for development. It’s already ready to go. They were very alarmed about that.

We had renters and housing advocates, including ACORN; the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights; Leilani Farha, a former UN special rapporteur; ACTO, who were alarmed at Bill 23’s threat to housing affordability. They spoke about this bill’s impact on inclusionary zoning laws in the city of Toronto, which would require developers to build their fair share of affordable housing units. And they were alarmed at this bill’s impact on renters who live in purpose-built rentals, very concerned that the likelihood of them being evicted because their building is going to be turned into a luxury condo—they will be evicted, and they will have to pay higher rent. It’s devastating.

We had environmentalists and conservation authorities—from Conservation Ontario, which represents all the conservation authorities across Ontario, to Environmental Defence, to CELA—and they were also alarmed at how Bill 23 bans conservation authorities from doing their job and working with municipalities to protect our natural environment, and to ensure our natural environment protects us from extreme weather events, from flooding. They were astonished.

Then we had the Toronto Atmospheric Fund come in and wave the red flag and say, “Hey, government, do you know that you’re gutting our ability to implement green building standards in the city of Toronto, which is a growing and thriving building sector? Hold on a minute here.” They actually couldn’t believe that you are sabotaging a municipal industry, an environmental movement, to green our building stock—the leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario. Bill 23 eviscerates it.

Citizens were also alarmed. Many citizen groups reached out, and they were absolutely alarmed that Bill 23 is curbing our democratic rights. This is a trend this government has had since 2018. I remember the shock I felt when I saw this government decide, in the middle of the city of Toronto’s election—and London’s and Kingston’s, because they affected them too. They made the decision to slash the number of city councillors who represent us at the city of Toronto in half, in the middle of an election—unbelievable. And then we see, this year, there are more efforts to curtail the right of citizens to have a say over their planning processes. There are many people in Toronto and across Ontario who subscribe to the “yes in my backyard” mentality; poll after poll after poll shows that. They want more housing in their backyard. This is really not about that. They were dismayed about that as well.

What I was also struck by, in the committee process, was the genuine reluctance from the government to hear people express concerns that were different from their own—which is the whole point of being in government. The government is meant to be a leader, to listen, to consult and to make decisions that benefit Ontarians—not just to talk to your donors and do their bidding.

We had an overwhelming number of people subscribe, in the very short window you gave people to subscribe—because the government always does that. You get about three days to sign up. We had so many people apply to speak.

I introduced motions and the Liberals introduced motions saying, “Hold on, government. Why are we ramming this through so quickly? Let’s travel this bill. Let’s take it around Ontario to fix the entirety of Ontario. Let’s make sure we come up with a bill that addresses our housing crisis and our housing affordability crisis. Let’s make it work, because there are some good things in this bill.” No, you weren’t interested in that. “No thanks. Not interested in hearing.” It’s a shame.

On one of the days of hearings, John Sewell, a former mayor of Toronto—I believe he was a mayor of the city of Toronto for 12 years, at a time when the number of homes being built were at record heights, very high. So this argument that Toronto is anti-development is—

I’m sure the member from Brantford–Brant will get an opportunity to ask a question to the minister here shortly, but I wanted to pick up where the minister left off, talking about development charges.

One of the things we’ve heard, that we’ve seen in the news is, “Oh, my gosh, the sky is falling. Municipalities aren’t going to have the revenue they used to have if they’re out there building affordable housing and/or purpose-built rentals.” I’ve had some conversations with municipalities, and I’d like to remind them that they’re sitting on about $8 billion of reserves when it comes to development charges—I know in my region of Waterloo alone, if you take all the municipalities, it’s hundreds of millions.

So I’m wondering if the minister could touch on what some of the discounts look like for building affordable housing and how municipalities are going to be able to leverage some of the reserves they already have.

Over two millennia ago, the Greek philosopher Socrates was quoted as saying, “The really wise man is the man who realizes how little he knows” and “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Even though he said these things millennia ago, this is wisdom that can guide all of us.

November 17 was World Philosophy Day. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, created an international day in 2005 to highlight the importance of philosophy, stating that “philosophy is a discipline that encourages critical and independent thought and is capable of working towards a better understanding of the world and promoting tolerance and peace.” The day is celebrated on the third Thursday of every November and provides a unique occasion to mark the enduring value of philosophy and human thought, our institutions and our own lives.

Within Ontario, world-class post-secondary institutions continue to advance our understanding of logic, epistemology, culture, the human condition, ethics and reality. And the spirit of philosophy is alive and well all across the province.

We’re better equipped to make decisions that affect our lives and help others when we think critically and meaningfully about what we seek to do.

Another quote: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” This quote is commonly attributed to Aristotle but actually is from the American writer Will Durant. And what did they both have in common? Both were philosophers.

I hope everyone takes this opportunity to mark World Philosophy Day by cracking open a new book about challenges and thinking.

Amir didn’t want to die, yet he had no choice but to begin the process of getting approved for medically assisted suicide because he’s living in poverty on ODSP and was about to lose the rooming house he lived in. He is a disabled man, living with excruciating, untreatable back pain, but the stress of becoming homeless was too much to bear.

Tracy found herself in a similar situation, with disability support being too low to survive on. Once an able-bodied chef, she faced the debilitating impact of long COVID that made it impossible for her to continue to work. Seeking MAID was an exclusive financial consideration for her.

There are many others like Amir and Tracy. A disability may be present at birth, could be caused by an accident, or developed over time—the point is, it could be anyone. And if you find yourself in that situation, the system you face is one where you are provided so little. The rates are so low that it becomes impossible to survive. You’re constantly worried about where your next meal will come from, how much longer you can keep a roof over your head. You become so desperate that you begin to consider medically assisted suicide. That’s how it is right now.

What does this say about ODSP, when death is the preferred choice?

We have to fix this. The NDP keeps proposing solutions, but you keep voting them down. Please, I ask you: Work with us so people don’t have to die and instead can live with dignity.

I rise this morning to recognize the amazing Burlington Symphony Orchestra. On November 12, I was honoured to attend the 50th anniversary of the Burlington Symphony Orchestra at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre. The performance was an incredible replica of the orchestra’s inaugural concert that took place on November 29, 1973. The orchestra performed Beethoven’s Overture to Prometheus—the first piece ever performed by the BSO—and included a stunning violin concerto beautifully executed by Ian Ye, along with Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4.

The Burlington Symphony Orchestra is a community-based volunteer orchestra that gives musicians a place to share their passion for orchestral music and strengthens community engagement through outreach programs such as the youth artist competition.

The Burlington orchestra started off as the McMaster Symphony Orchestra, a campus community orchestra.

The orchestra maintains its original objectives from 1973, which are: to perform symphonic music of high quality; to stimulate excellence in instrumental performance; and to support, improve and expand musical opportunities for the Hamilton and Burlington regions.

The Burlington Symphony Orchestra fills an important cultural role within our city, and I am happy to have been able to experience the talent of the incredible youth our community produces.

Congratulations to the Burlington Symphony Orchestra on 50 years.