Thank you once again to the great member from Brantford−Brant for yet another fantastic question thrown my way.

We knew through the More Homes Built Faster Act, we would be opening up opportunities to build more affordable homes, but we also knew that high development charges, in some communities over $100,000 per house, was making the price of affordable housing—in fact, all housing—out of reach for many Ontarians.

Speaker, we had to eliminate these development charges from affordable housing. We listened and we acted. So what did we do? We opened up new possibilities for seniors, for students, for newcomers to this country and this province and for first-time homebuyers. What are the results we’re seeing? More purpose-built rentals, more multi-generational homes and starter homes for first-time homebuyers.

Every Ontarian deserves a roof over their head. Our pathway is bringing keys to thousands of Ontarians who deserve housing stability and a chance to own their own home.

As outlined in Bill 134, we’re proposing changes as well to help smaller communities around the historic St. Thomas investment with Volkswagen. By the way, Speaker, I just learned today, it’s the fourth-largest manufacturing site in the world—it will be when completed—and we’re excited about that. What does that mean? It means economic prosperity to important parts of this province: 3,000 new jobs, 30,000 tertiary jobs.

This government has a mandate to act. We’re not only going to create economic prosperity, we’re going to build homes to match these jobs.

Thank you to the member from Chatham-Kent–Leamington, my neighbour down in southwestern Ontario, who is doing a great job.

As Ontario fights this housing crisis, we remain committed to ensuring that all Ontarians have a safe place to call home. Every month, I’m encouraged to see that we’re seeing housing projects under way in communities across this whole province. Why, Speaker? Because we’ve introduced four housing supply action plans. Why, Speaker? Because we’ve invested $1.2 billion in the Building Faster Fund, and we’ve invested $700 million in the homelessness prevention plan, up 42% or $200 million.

The plan is working. We’ve got shovels in the ground. We’re going to get keys in people’s hands. We’re on the pathway to success. The job is getting done.