I am pleased to lead off debate today on our fall red tape reduction package, the Less Red Tape, More Common Sense Act, 2023. I will be sharing my time with the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health, the member for Eglinton–Lawrence.

On this side of the House, we know that we need to continue our ongoing to work to reduce burdens that people and businesses face in their everyday lives in the province. Since 2018, we have reduced Ontario’s total regulatory burden by 6%, eliminating more than 20,000 individual regulatory compliance requirements for people and businesses in the province of Ontario. The changes that we have put in place have saved businesses, not-for-profit organizations and the broader public sector nearly $950 million in gross annual regulatory compliance costs that they would otherwise have to face. When we combine those savings year over year, it adds up to nearly $3 billion in compliance costs removed since we took office—proof of our government’s ongoing commitment to reduce burdens and find savings. We have achieved these savings by making common-sense changes that save Ontarians time and money. That includes the 10 high-impact red tape reduction bills that this Legislature has passed since 2018 and more than 500 burden-reducing actions such as regulation and policy changes that our government has implemented.

But as we all know, this work is never complete. Without the ongoing effort to track down wasteful, outdated and burdensome regulations, the number of regulations—as well as the cost and time required to comply with them—will continue to go up over time. That’s why we will never stop working to improve government services and reduce unnecessary burdens on people and businesses.

As part of our efforts to continue finding ways to streamline processes and modernize outdated practices across multiple areas of government, we will soon be launching a mandatory regulatory review, which we’re calling the 10-year review. The review is a cross-government initiative led by the Ministry of Red Tape Reduction, with the intent to ensure Ontario’s regulations remain modern and relevant, which in turn will make us more agile and competitive in today’s changing global economy, Mr. Speaker.

Beginning in January of next year, ministries across government will be required to complete an annual review of any of their regulations that have been filed for 10 years or more. As you can imagine, Speaker, a lot can happen in a span of a decade. What tends to happen is that ministries will create a law or a regulation for a certain purpose or in response to a specific issue, but then a new issue comes along and before you know it, everyone has forgotten about the original issue or intent.

Still, as new issues come and new issues go, these new laws and regulations continue to get layered on top of those that already exist. I know ministries don’t set out with the intention of making these laws or regulations expensive or difficult to comply with, but over time, and left unchecked, that’s exactly what happens. Simply put, many of these rules and regulations remain on the books long after their original purpose has passed. That’s why, as a government, we need to step back and see if what the ministry created is still relevant and necessary: adapted to evolving needs, technology advancements and other changing circumstances.

This is exactly the purpose of our 10-year mandatory regulatory review. Regularly assessing the province’s regulations is crucial to ensuring they remain relevant in the current landscape, that the businesses and regulated entities here in Ontario can prosper in a competitive and innovative marketplace, and that individuals are provided with the best possible access to government services.

Through the review, we will continue to assess regulations through the lens of the seven regulatory modernization principles enshrined in the Modernizing Ontario for People and Businesses Act. This is our guiding legislation that was established to increase transparency and contain the cost of doing business in Ontario.

These seven principles are to:

—use recognized national or international standards wherever possible, instead of Ontario-specific rules;

—apply a small-business lens, recognizing that small businesses have fewer resources dedicated to compliance than larger businesses;

—go digital by delivering simple and straightforward digital services and products whenever possible;

—reward good actors by using risk-based inspections where possible, focusing on practices that pose the most risk or on organizations that haven’t proven their ability to comply with the rules;

—create a “tell us once” culture where people and businesses don’t have to tell us the same information over and over;

—focus on the user by writing rules and regulations in plain language and providing a single point of contact for any questions or concerns; and

—use outcome-based regulations that state the outcome we want achieved, instead of prescriptive regulations that outline how to achieve the outcome.

Our latest bill, the proposed Less Red Tape, More Common Sense Act, is focused on improving services for people, reducing costs for businesses and making it easier to work with the provincial government.

But make no mistake, reducing red tape is not just about counting the number of regulations and trying to reduce them. It’s so much more than that. It’s about the impact those changes are having on real people and businesses across our province, changes like improving government forms to reduce the paperwork demands on physicians and give them more time to deliver the best care for patients; changes like creating more pathways into the skilled trades and attracting more apprentices to in-demand trades, preparing Ontario’s workforce for rewarding lifelong careers; and changes like enhancing consumer protection by ensuring consumers have the information they need to make informed decisions when buying or selling a vehicle.

This package is the product of continued collaboration across government with our ministry partners and extensive consultation with a range of stakeholders and people across our great province to develop an unparalleled inventory of red tape reduction ideas. I’m proud to say the legislation we are debating today, the Less Red Tape, More Common Sense Act, is the 11th burden reduction bill we have introduced since 2018.

The bill sets out measures to build a stronger economy, improve services and save Ontarians their most valuable resource: time. And it’s an important part of our larger fall 2023 red tape reduction package, which contains additional regulatory amendments and policy changes that contribute to a common goal of reducing red tape. This bill, if passed, would streamline processes and modernize outdated practices across several areas of government and multiple sectors of Ontario’s economy and continue to save the hard-working businesses within our province millions of dollars each year in compliance cost savings.

Speaker, we continue to find ourselves in uncertain economic times. While Ontario has remained resilient, we cannot take anything for granted. That’s why it’s so important that we continue our efforts to streamline Ontario’s regulatory climate to make it easier than ever to invest and do business in our province.

A wide-reaching red tape reduction bill like this one simply isn’t possible without the assistance of our partner ministries across government, who best understand the issues that their sectors are facing and how we can implement solutions to solve them. I want to take a moment to thank our partner ministries for working together with us on this and helping us continue our journey forward of becoming a modern and efficient province. How we work together to address regulatory burden will affect us now and for generations to come.

But when I talk about burden reduction, Speaker, know that our government acknowledges the importance of having robust rules and regulations in place. They help protect public health, safety and the environment. They keep our children safe when they’re at school. They protect our workers so they come home to their families each and every day. And they ensure our environmental protections remain among the best and strongest in the world.

Our goal with the burden reduction initiatives we are putting forward today is to ensure that we no longer rely on rules and regulations that are burdensome, inefficient or outdated and that the ones we do rely on are current and enforced properly, predictably and consistently.

With those principles in mind, I would like to talk a little bit more about some of the items within the Less Red Tape, More Common Sense Act and how they will make life better for people across our province. The bill we are debating today includes 20 different schedules, and our complete fall 2023 red tape reduction package has 32 individual items, including regulatory and policy changes that complement the legislative changes found in the bill. Rather than reading every single item in the package, I’m going to spend some time highlighting a few of the items that I believe will have the most impact for Ontarians.

When it comes to improving services for people, I’d like to start by highlighting a very important initiative that the Ministry of Red Tape Reduction has been working closely on with our colleagues at the Ministry of Health and with many other partner ministries across our government. In their 2023 Red Tape Report Card, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business challenged every province to take action on reducing burden for physicians and across the health care system. Here in Ontario, we accepted that challenge. We have heard loud and clear that physicians are spending too much time filling out unnecessary, duplicative paperwork, something that has gone on for far too long and been identified as a contributing factor for some of the clogs within the health care system.

That’s why, Speaker, we are working across government and in collaboration with the Ontario Medical Association to review some of the forms, to streamline and simplify them, minimize any duplication, and identify opportunities for digital solutions while exploring even more forms and processes to improve moving forward. With these updates, we estimate that the new and improved government forms and process could free up as much as 95,000 hours per year for physicians. That’s 95,000 hours we’re giving back to physicians to help them manage their practices better, to deliver the best care for their patients.

Interjection.

I want to thank the Minister of Red Tape Reduction for introducing this important legislation and giving me the opportunity to speak to it this morning.

In a few moments, I’m just going to pick up where the minister left off and speak about a few more items in the fall red tape package and how they will make a real impact on the lives of people across Ontario. But before I do that, I want to take a few moments to remind everyone again about why this work is so important.

We all know that red tape causes frustration, expenses and needless delays and complications for everyone—the minister was just talking about that—from individuals to businesses, non-profit organizations and the broader public sector. Regulatory burdens are a barrier to our productivity, our innovation, our economic competitiveness and development, and there are significant costs associated with failing to act.

Last year, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business estimated that red tape costs small businesses in Canada approximately $11 billion each year—$11 billion, Madam Speaker. That’s why we’re doing everything in our power to reduce red tape and create the conditions that enable people and businesses to thrive, and we are committed to doing this while maintaining and strengthening the important rules and regulations that are necessary to keep people safe and happy and protect the environment, because our initiatives to reduce burden should never jeopardize public health, safety or the environment—and we’re committing to making sure that they never will.

Speaker, Ontario used to be the most heavily regulated province in the country. When we formed government in 2018, we knew that urgently had to change. We set out to make that happen, to remove the unnecessary and outdated regulations holding this province back—and we did, thanks to all the hard work from the minister and his team. Since July 1, 2018, this government has reduced the number of regulatory compliance requirements affecting businesses and other regulated entities by 6%.

Our government also made a commitment to increase jobs and investment in Ontario by making it less expensive, faster and easier to do business and to set one of the best regulatory service standards in North America. Today, we continue delivering on that commitment. To date, our government has taken more than 500 burden-reducing actions, while continuing to look for ways to improve.

Our red tape reduction measures have so far saved business, not-for-profit organization, municipalities, school boards, colleges and universities and hospitals over $939 million in gross annual compliance costs that they would otherwise have had to pay. Combined, year over year, that adds up to nearly $2.8 billion in costs removed since we took office; that’s $2.8 billion in costs that Ontario businesses and public-serving organizations can put to better use. Our newest red tape reduction bill, the Less Red Tape, More Common Sense Act, will save Ontario businesses even more once fully implemented.

We have come a long way, and we are very proud of what we have accomplished so far. But we’re also grateful for the ideas that our government has received from stakeholders, from people across the province and from people in every ministry, too, who have worked diligently to streamline processes and modernize outdated practices across multiple areas of government. This has allowed us to continue delivering on our commitment to support economic competitiveness and create high-quality jobs and an attractive investment climate.

But let me tell you a little bit more about how we do the work that we do. Every time the Ministry of Red Tape Reduction considers a new idea, they draw on seven guiding principles that consistently direct efforts to reduce red tape as enshrined in the Modernizing Ontario for People and Businesses Act. I’d love to just share a few examples of how those principles have been applied with the items from our latest package.

The first principle is that recognized national and international standards should be adopted when possible. That’s because harmonizing requirements across jurisdictions reduces costs and makes it easier to do business across borders. We live in a very global world. A great example of this is our Ministry of Energy’s proposal to streamline the energy and water reporting and benchmarking exemption process. The previous process for submitting an exemption notice was burdensome for stakeholders. It required reporters to file an online exemption notice and submit supporting documentation for each exemption criteria selected. The proposed changes would reduce the burden on building owners by eliminating the need to gather and submit additional supporting documentation for each applicable exemption criteria. The proposed updates are user-focused and would relieve regulatory burden, eliminate unnecessary red tape by reducing interaction points with government as well as align Ontario with other jurisdictions across North America.

The second principle is that small businesses should have less onerous compliance requirements when compared to larger businesses. I think that makes sense to everybody. This recognizes that they don’t have the same resources or expertise as their counterparts to focus on compliance. The Ministry of the Attorney General, in this case, has proposed a change to the Charities Accounting Act that would eliminate a reporting requirement for charities, who already need to report to the provincial and federal governments. This change would remove red tape for smaller businesses like charities, who must report twice, and for the Ontario Public Guardian and Trustee, who needs to receive and store the information that is readily available.

The third principle is that any entity subject to regulations should be provided accessible digital services whenever possible, because in 2023 we really shouldn’t be asking people or businesses to fill out long paper forms anymore. The Ministry of the Attorney General has another great example for this with their proposal for amendments to the Professional Engineers Act. These amendments support the modernization of Professional Engineers Ontario operations and bring them into the 21st century by allowing certain notices and documents to now be delivered electronically.

The fourth principle is that regulated entities—like businesses, services, and broader public sector organizations—that demonstrate excellent compliance should be recognized. The Ministry of Health’s proposal for streamlining submission requirements for well-established drugs is a great example for this one. I’ll share more about that one in a moment.

The fifth principle is that unnecessary reporting should be reduced, and steps should be taken to avoid requiring regulated entities to provide the same information to government repeatedly, because nothing is more frustrating than filling out the same form over and over again or having to repeat the same story to multiple ministries or different levels of government. When you think about red tape, this is a perfect example of how it can be burdensome to businesses. The Ministry of Finance has proposed amendments to reduce the burden on credit unions by removing the requirement for investor documents to include two financial statements, one of which that has already been shared. I’m going to share more about that one in a moment as well.

The sixth principle is that instruments should prioritize the user by using clear communication, setting reasonable response times, and establishing a centralized point of contact. Like I said, these are all common-sense things. It’s straightforward. People and businesses should be able to understand the requirements imposed on them by government. That’s why our Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is proposing amendments to the Agricultural and Horticultural Organizations Act and the Farm Registration and Farm Organizations Funding Act to reduce confusion, provide greater clarity and reduce red tape for stakeholder organizations.

And the seventh principle is that an instrument should specify the desired result that regulated entities must meet, rather than the specific methods used to attain that result, because good outcomes are what we are concerned about, and we recognize that there may be many ways to get to that same outcome. A great example of this is the Ministry of Energy’s proposed regulatory amendments to remove unnecessary administrative burden and clarify regulatory requirements specific to community net metering and third-party ownership net metering arrangements. These changes will make it easier for consumers to use renewable generation systems, like rooftop solar, to help lower the cost of their electricity bills—a perfect representation of the name of this bill: less red tape, more common sense.

As the minister mentioned in his remarks earlier, this year’s fall red tape reduction package focuses on three key themes: improving services for people, reducing costs for businesses, and making it easier to work with government. I’d like to just spend a few minutes speaking to some of the initiatives from the fall package that help us to realize these commitments.

As parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health, it’s only natural that I want to begin with a few items that our ministry has been working on in this package. When it comes to improving services for people, a great example is our proposal to streamline the submission requirements for generic drugs to improve treatment options for Ontarians who rely on life-saving drugs. As it stands, when a company wants to get funding or have their product designated as interchangeable, they need to complete clinical studies for the drugs. But there are some drugs that have been sold in Canada for a while, sometimes for decades, and that have been proven to be safe and effective. The process right now is that these companies still need to do clinical studies for these drugs before they’re able to receive funding or be available as alternative options.

What we’re proposing, Speaker, is that drug manufacturers won’t have to do new clinical studies for drugs that have been sold in Canada for a while and that have proven already to be safe and effective, when applying for funding or for interchangeability. Instead, they would be able to rely on evidence and information submitted to Health Canada to be approved for sale in the country. This means that Ontarians would benefit from having access to a greater number of publicly funded drugs and lower-cost generic drugs for their treatment needs. I think it’s common sense.

I’d also like to spend a few moments on our work to reduce physician burden, which the minister also touched on. Working across government and in collaboration with the Ontario Medical Association, we’re going to review several key forms to streamline and simplify them, minimize any duplication and identify opportunities for digital solutions. We’re going to be exploring even more forms and processes to improve moving forward. My colleague Dawn Gallagher Murphy, the MPP for Newmarket–Aurora, and I did many round tables this summer about this issue.

Initial estimates are that modernizing just 12 forms, the ones we’re focused on here today, could save doctors up to 95,000 hours of time per year, time that can be put back into their practices with patients. Reviewing forms is a recommendation of the Ontario Medical Association and a key factor that they have identified as contributing to physician burnout in Ontario. Working with our Ministry of Red Tape Reduction and other partners across government, we’re going to make sure that we deliver on this very important priority.

Another way that we’re improving services is by proposing the designation of transit corridor lands for Hamilton light rail transit. Accelerating transit delivery is part of our government’s plan to build new transit faster, so people can get where they want to go, when they want to get there. Better transit also creates more local jobs, and it’s good for businesses and the economy. Right now, the Hamilton LRT is a priority transit project of Ontario under the Building Transit Faster Act, 2020, but it doesn’t have transit corridor lands designation. The designation will enable us to use all measures under the act to get shovels in the ground faster for this important project. Not only that, Speaker; the project will also play a key role in the revitalization of Hamilton’s urban environment. The LRT will be a 14-kilometre transit line that offers frequent and reliable connections to institutions and transit hubs including McMaster University, city hall, Tim Hortons Field, Eastgate Square and downtown Hamilton. Truly, it’s going to transform the way residents travel across the heart of that city.

When it comes to reducing costs for businesses, I’d also like to share an initiative coming from the Ministry of Education that will help shape the minds of our future generations. We’re working to reduce process burden for school boards by adopting new digital practices and technologies that will deliver simpler, faster and better services to school boards across the province. These changes improve the process for accessing education applications, starting with the Ontario Education Number and Ontario School Information System applications, by implementing a few changes: first, a single sign-in for Ontario School Information System access through Azure AD that will provide an alternative to paper-based processes, and an expansion of application programming interface to facilitate system integration that significantly reduces the manual steps to facilitate submissions into the Ontario School Information System. Not only will the changes reduce administrative burden on schools and school board staff and allow staff to focus on other tasks and priorities, but it will also result in significant time and cost savings for school boards.

When it comes to making it easier to work with government, I’d like to share a proposal coming out of our Ministry of Colleges and Universities. We’re proposing to streamline and improve processes related to the ministry’s core research funding programs: the Ontario Research Fund–Research Excellence Program, the Ontario Research Fund–Research Infrastructure Program and the Early Researcher Award Program.

The ministry manages several research funding programs that attract the world’s very best researchers to the province and lead to the development of innovations that drive Ontario’s economy. The ministry issues calls for proposals, coordinates a peer-review process to help assess applications and ultimately establishes multi-year funding agreements with colleges, universities, hospitals and research institutes that manage approved research projects. To help reduce red tape, the ministry is working to streamline and improve end-to-end program processes related to its core research funding programs. This will help to make it easier for organizations to apply for research funding and manage approved projects that will provide social and economic benefits to Ontarians.

Another example of one of the many ways that we are trying to make it easier to work with the government is through our Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport’s—this is a mouthful—board governance requirements update. If you recall from the spring package, Speaker, the ministry proposed amendments to improve how tourism and culture agencies operated internally and, consequently, how they deliver services and work with businesses in Ontario. I’m proud to report that these changes, which have now come into effect, have resulted in administrative efficiencies while improving board recruitment, retention and management, and have allowed Ontario’s tourism and culture agencies, which represent some of the most iconic tourist and cultural institutions here in Ontario, to run more efficiently and effectively. Changes like these not make it only easier to work with government, but they also play an important role in the government’s plan to build a stronger Ontario.

To develop this important red-tape-reduction package, the Ministry of Red Tape Reduction has been working collaboratively across government and consulting with a range of stakeholders and people across the province to build an unparalleled inventory of ideas. I want to take a moment and recognize some of the pieces coming out of this package that directly address ideas and requests like these from stakeholders and people across the province.

We have a proposal coming from our Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to amend the Agricultural and Horticultural Organizations Act. The proposal will make it easier for agricultural and horticultural societies to operate, and reduce confusion between the Agricultural and Horticultural Organizations Act and the Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, as well as provide less onerous financial reporting options. This idea came as a direct ask from the Ontario Association of Agricultural Societies and the Ontario Horticultural Association, and our government was happy to deliver through the great work in the Ministry of Red Tape Reduction.

Next, we have an item coming from our colleagues at the Ministry of Transportation, who are developing a new and more efficient land-development-review model as part of the online Highway Corridor Management System. We’ve heard from developers, municipalities and businesses who suggested the need for an online land-development-review process as part of the initial consultations for the system. They asked, and we delivered. The new module will allow municipalities and developers to submit land development applications, track the status of submissions and access comments, all from a convenient online public portal.

Currently, folks use a number—a multitude, really—of different channels to complete this type of work, from arranging separate pre-consultation meetings and emailing submissions and comments to multiple people or groups, to requesting updates by email or phone. It’s onerous, and it’s not really a good use of anyone’s time. By being able to navigate the land-development-application process through one central location, it reduces the number of interactions or touchpoints, improves the overall efficiency of the land development application process and helps get the shovels in the ground quicker for priority projects. That’s a win-win for Ontario, Madam Speaker.

Next, we have a proposal from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities to extend the term limits of the chairs of college and university boards of governors. Right now, board members have a legislated six-year term limit. Sometimes colleges and universities want to extend the terms of their board chairs to support continuity of leadership, but unfortunately they’ve not been able to do so because of these limits. These changes will provide colleges and universities with more flexibility to maintain continuity of leadership and to provide for more orderly board chair transition.

There are many, many more examples of items that address stakeholder requests. I’d like to just share one more now.

We’re proposing to modernize and streamline the regulation and processes for credit unions and caisses populaires. These changes will help them to stay competitive in the current climate and ensure that they can continue to offer first-rate services to their communities. This is a request that came to us from the Canadian Credit Union Association and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario.

These proposed changes clarify rules and reduce administrative burden on the sector and credit union members. In fact, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario estimates that for larger, more complex credit unions, removing the requirement for offering statements to contain two financial statements would shorten offering statements by 100 to 200 pages, encouraging efficiencies and savings in the sector—less red tape, more common sense. As I’ve said before, Speaker—

Interjection.

Yes. We are incredibly grateful for the ideas that our colleagues across government have received from these stakeholders, from people across our province and from every ministry who have worked diligently to streamline process and modernize outdated practices across multiple areas of government. That’s probably music to some people’s ears. These suggestions have allowed us to continue delivering on our commitment to support economic competitiveness and create high-quality jobs and an attractive investment climate. We continue to encourage people and businesses to share their best ideas for reducing red tape through Ontario’s dedicated red-tape-reduction portal on ontario.ca.

As a member of this government, I am incredibly proud of the work that our government has done so far and that our Ministry of Red Tape Reduction has led to reduce regulatory burdens on people and businesses. And I’m even more proud of the work that we’re going to be doing in the future. The 32 initiatives in the Less Red Tape, More Common Sense Act, 2023, and in our Fall 2023 red tape reduction package will improve services for people and reduce costs for businesses, while making it easier to work with government.

The items in this, I believe, 11th red tape reduction bill build on over five years of progress in modernizing legislation, regulations and policies that are burdensome, inefficient and inflexible for businesses, workers and individuals in Ontario. Building on the previous red tape reduction bills and packages, the impact of these proposals will streamline processes and modernize outdated practices across multiple areas of government and multiple sectors of Ontario’s economy. Altogether, they will ensure that our province remains a leader in regulatory modernization. Less red tape, more common sense: I think it’s something that should appeal to everyone.

I would like to thank the Minister of Red Tape Reduction for introducing this very important piece of legislation which would help improve services for the people and reduce costs for the businesses.

Madam Speaker, since we took office in 2018, our government has been focused on cutting red tape, cutting unnecessary regulations and making life affordable for the people of Ontario. There’s one very important act in this legislation, which is the Ontario Heritage Act. So my question to the Minister of Red Tape Reduction is, how are we helping places of worship to continue to provide important services with some of the changes under the Ontario Heritage Act?

I would like to thank the Minister of Red Tape Reduction and the parliamentary assistant for the Minister of Health, the member from Eglinton–Lawrence, for their presentation.

The Less Red Tape, More Common Sense Act is really making common sense, not making nonsense. I was talking to many doctors, including my wife, Dr. Rajes Logan—it’s wonderful news. It’s a game-changer; it is really revolutionizing the medical system when it comes to freeing up thousands and thousands of hours. I would say there was a research that came out and found that doctors are losing millions of hours in Ontario on paperwork. I think this is really a game-changer when it comes to freeing up the doctors. I was talking to many doctors. They were telling me they are trained for eight to 10 years to diagnose the patient, not to do the paperwork.

This is a great-news story, and I ask the minister to elaborate on how the negotiation was with the OMA and freeing up—

J’aurais une question, c’est sûr. Je pense que c’est le cinquième projet de loi que le gouvernement amène où on parle de « red tape ». Je demanderais au ministre—tu sais, on a entendu souvent, puis mon collègue et moi avons parlé souvent des « issues » des Premières Nations : comment on parle juste d’eau potable, de maisons adéquates, et la liste est très longue quand ça vient aux communautés autochtones.

J’aimerais savoir pourquoi on ne voit pas de réduction de « red tape » quand ça vient aux Premières Nations.