Thank you, Minister. I appreciate the opportunity to speak about Bill 136, the proposed Greenbelt Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023.

As the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing stated, we are following through on our commitment to restore greenbelt lands, enhance the protection of those lands with this proposed legislation, and in fact, grow the total acreage of Ontario’s greenbelt. Speaker, as the minister said, we’re adding an additional 9,400 acres, which will make it absolutely pristine, and I am excited about the lands going in as well as the land staying in.

This bill would ensure that any boundary changes can only be made through a public and transparent process that would require the approval of this Legislature.

As you are aware, Speaker, from other legislation currently before this House, we are also following through on our other commitment, the commitment to build homes right across this province.

Achieving both these commitments means working together with our municipal, our private sector and our not-for-profit partners. We remain focused on strengthening protections for the greenbelt while at the same time ensuring that community home builders in municipalities across the province can get shovels in the ground quickly to build the homes to meet our collective housing targets.

Speaker, we all know, too many people in Ontario are struggling to find a home that meets their needs and their budget. They are struggling to find an affordable place to call home. Our government is determined to help these people by creating a collaborative environment to build 1.5 million homes by 2031. We’re going to do that by working together under Premier Ford’s leadership and by updating and improving the processes that get housing built, and built faster.

Fortunately, Speaker, we are well on our way, with 11% of our target already achieved. But we all know so much more is needed and so much more is required to meet the need to meet and exceed the 1.5-million-homes-built target.

Since the beginning of our mandate, we have put forward numerous measures to help increase the supply of housing. We’ve done this by:

—encouraging increased density through Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act—as we say, build in, build up, where possible;

—working with municipalities to remove red tape and eliminate duplication in the planning process—that is essential;

—announcing the expansion of strong-mayor powers to heads of council who have committed to the housing targets provided by the province; and

—proposing to revise the definition of “affordable residential units” through Bill 134, the Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act, to reduce the costs of building much-needed affordable units.

These are just a few of the many measures we have taken to build new homes and prepare for the population growth we know is coming.

As I have said before in the House here, many years ago when I was in high school, the province was about 7.5 million people. Today, it’s 15.5 million and growing fast. In fact, I would argue the growth is already here. We talk about these targets, but I think, we are going to be a population of 20 million people before we know it. That is why our government has a bias for action and sense of urgency to get the job done.

Ontario is expected to grow by two million people over the next 10 years—my personal opinion is I think it will be more—with approximately 70% of the growth taking place in the greater Golden Horseshoe, one of the fastest-growing regions not only in the province or in the country but in North America, as the minister said and outlined, this is an integral part of the growth of this province. By 2051, this region alone, as the minister said, will be 15 million people—the size of Ontario today.

We must act now to make it easier to build more housing to accommodate these newcomers—whether it’s seniors, newcomers, students or whether it’s first-time homebuyers—all these collective people will be in the greater Golden Horseshoe area and, in fact, throughout the province.

In our third housing supply action plan, Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster, we introduced measures that encouraged the creation of up to three units on most urban residential lots. For example, a main residence, a basement apartment and laneway house will be accommodated for and, where applicable, this housing will help accommodate thousands of Ontarians looking for housing stability. This means enabling these additional housing options on residential lots where neighbourhoods already exist without lengthy planning approvals and development charges.

Increased density could accommodate extended family members, increase the mix of rental housing options and help homeowners pay their mortgage. These additional housing options would be facilitated where housing and infrastructure already exist. It will make it easier for people to live closer to family, to their jobs and to the communities. It will take both short-term strategies and a long-term commitment from all levels of government to drive this change. As we make it easier to build housing, we will continue to ensure that municipalities are planning for sufficient land supply over the long term to accommodate growth.

Our More Homes Built Faster housing supply action plan is working to streamline municipal planning responsibilities to remove duplication in the planning process. The plan will help cities, towns and our rural communities grow with a mix of ownership and rental housing types that meet the needs of all Ontarians—from single-family homes to townhomes and to mid-rise apartments.

Since 2019, we have released four housing supply action plans, taking significant action to unlock more housing supply. Our government’s previous housing supply action plans and other significant measures we have taken thus far are having a positive effect on housing supply, helping us transform Ontario to meet the needs of the future. We have been making meaningful progress, but as we’ve said, more is needed to be done.

Both in 2021 and 2022, we saw the most housing starts in over 30 years in Ontario, with close to 100,000 housing starts recorded in each year. In fact, as I already mentioned, we’ve already achieved 11% of our housing target, but, again, we need to accelerate the pace upon which we’re getting homes built. In 2022, Ontario recorded close to 15,000 purpose-built rental housing starts, the highest number on record, up 43.5% year-over-year. However, to accelerate the creation of housing supply, we need to take steps to support the efforts of our municipal partners and achieve our goal of building at least 1.5 million new homes—again, at least 1.5 million—by 2031.

We’ve got some heavy lifting ahead, Speaker. It will take all stakeholders, whether it’s the federal government, the provincial government, our municipal partners, along with the not-for-profit and, yes, the private sector, including financial institutions, to help us get the job done.

To help facilitate working together, this province is expanding strong-mayor powers to additional municipalities as long as heads of council have committed in writing to the housing target provided by the province. These municipalities would then receive strong-mayor powers by October 31, 2023. These powers will provide the tools the mayors and these municipalities need to help drive increased housing supply, speed up local planning approvals and help make council decisions more effective, and enable mayors to bring forward budgets that would allocate resources to priority items like housing.

We are further incentivizing the municipalities to build more housing with the new Building Faster Fund. As announced at AMO, the Building Faster Fund is a three-year, $1.2-billion fund that will provide up to $400 million per year to municipalities that meet and exceed their annual housing targets. It will provide financial support for municipalities that can be directed toward housing-enabling infrastructure and related costs that support community growth.

The fund can be accessed by the 50 municipalities, as said, who have been assigned and have agreed to their housing target. A portion of the funding will also be reserved for small, rural and northern communities that have not yet been assigned a target. This is an important plank in the strategy. This new program will put municipalities and the province on a path to achieve our common objective of increasing our housing supply.

As I have mentioned, all levels of government must work together to address this housing crisis. Ontario is also working closely with the federal government to increase the supply of purpose-built rentals. Following our long-standing call, Ontario absolutely welcomes the federal government’s decision to provide HST relief for new purpose-built rental housing. In fact, last Friday, while I was in my riding, I met with some local not-for-profit folks, and they were very excited about this opportunity, especially when they’re looking at new builds. These new builds are going to obviously complement the need for more housing options in our province and in our region.

As we await more details, we are looking forward to working with the federal government to ensure Ontario’s portion of the HST is removed from qualifying purpose-built rental housing as soon as possible. Removing both the federal and provincial portions of the HST is a measure that will make it easier and more cost-effective to build this important housing segment in this province.

I’ve also met with some colleges and universities of late. Again, in my own community, I look back at how many kids were around in August. I could name three who were heading off to different universities and colleges but didn’t have a place to call home yet. Their parents were phoning. They were struggling. They were worried. They were quite perplexed, driving back and forth to the different cities to try to find housing options. Fortunately, every one of them got them, but not their first choice. We need to also help enable our universities and colleges to get shovels in the ground faster through effective funding and effective measures.

We also need to get shovels in the ground faster to start building homes for the workers of tomorrow. We are focused on creating the conditions for growth and construction to take place and making it less expensive to get housing built. We are also working to strengthen local economies and create more good-paying jobs.

Again, I will continue to stand up and scream about the wonderful news St. Thomas got earlier this year in March, when we welcomed the news that Volkswagen, Europe’s largest auto manufacturer, will establish its subsidiary PowerCo electric-vehicle-battery manufacturing facility right there, outside of St. Thomas. When completed, this will be the fourth-largest manufacturing facility in the world. It will bring thousands of good-paying jobs and even more families to the beautiful community in southern Ontario.

I met with the warden of Elgin county last week and the mayor of Central Elgin, standing just south of St. Thomas, looking out at the county building and looking across. We drove through and looked at the site that’s being prepared. It was a daunting feeling. We sat there and talked. We’ve got 3,000 people coming directly to work at that plant and 30,000 tertiary jobs that will be in that community and throughout the province.

As I’ve said all along, we do a great job in this province. We’re creating economic growth. We’re creating jobs. From my agri-food sector, we are feeding everyone and we will continue to feed everyone as we continue to grow, thanks to the innovation and ingenuity of our farmers and food processers.

The third leg of the stool that we still need so much more work to do is getting roofs over people’s heads so when these people come to work they have a place to call home.

To help facilitate this job creation we recently proposed the Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act. If passed, this legislation would help support Volkswagen and their historic investment and give the city of St. Thomas the authority to provide PowerCo SE municipal-based incentives that were negotiated in partnership with the municipality.

The battery-cell manufacturing facility will be the largest of its kind in Canada, as I said the fourth-largest plant in the world—just think about the economic prosperity, the jobs and the opportunity in southwestern Ontario. The auto sector, as many of my colleagues will have realized from down there, has been shrinking since I moved to London many decades ago—Dorchester—our manufacturing sector, has waned, continued to decrease. With the historic announcements, both with Stellantis in Windsor and Volkswagen in St. Thomas, we’re going to see in this important sector great-paying jobs with benefits and pensions. We’re all very, very excited. It’s going to be a boon for the future. It’s going to help future generations for years to come.

By delivering on these cost savings for critical infrastructure we are also creating the right conditions for not only Volkswagen to come but other companies as well.

But again, housing affordability, housing attainability—housing, period—is the leg of the stool we have to improve upon. Ontario will be hard-pressed to attract new investment, new companies and new employers if we can’t get the housing built that we need. In addition to helping create the conditions that foster new jobs, Bill 134, the proposed Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act, would, along with other measures, support getting more affordable residential units built in Ontario.

Again, Speaker, I was speaking to a manufacturer who is coming to the London region—excited about coming—and when we were talking about what the biggest risk was, I said, “You’ve got to find homes for the people that you’re going to employ.” So he’s looking at new and bold initiatives, looking at the modular sector, the tiny-homes sector, to get shovels in the ground and get these homes built as soon as he can so once he starts the plant we’ve got people with roofs over their heads.

The proposed changes recently introduced in the act would bolster our efforts to lower the cost of building, purchasing and renting affordable homes across the province. These proposed changes affect the collection of municipal development-related charges related to affordable housing. These charges are development charges, community benefit charges and parkland levies.

We know that including income as a measure of affordability in Ontario is essential to making both home ownership and rental housing more affordable. That is why we have proposed a revised definition of “affordable residential units.” The definition would determine which residential units should be eligible for municipal development-related charge discounts and exemptions. It takes local income into account, in addition to local market factors.

Affordable residential units—both rental and ownership—that meet the province’s new definition would be eligible for discounts and exemptions from municipal development-related fees. Discounts and exemptions on these fees could help to ensure more Ontarians in all parts of the province can truly find an affordable home. Far too many people are struggling with the rising cost of living and finding housing that meets their family’s needs. By strategically exempting and discounting municipal development-related charges on affordable residential units, we will be counting on the community home building sector to step up and help build significantly more affordable housing.

The proposed change to the definition of “affordable residential units” under the Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act considers the important feedback we received through two technical advisory tables. We also welcome further feedback on the proposed amendments through our postings on the Environmental Registry of Ontario and the regulatory registry. We welcome feedback from people throughout Ontario, whether they live in the greater Golden Horseshoe, eastern, northern or southwestern Ontario.

Speaker, as you can see, our government is getting it done by following through on our commitments. We have a big task ahead of us and, again, it’s going to take all partners throughout this province to get the job done. We are committed to providing the tools needed to help our municipal partners meet and exceed their housing targets. We are committed to increasing housing supply in Ontario, and through the actions we have already taken and the actions we will continue to take, we will keep building homes while enhancing protections for the greenbelt’s lands and its boundaries.

Well done is better than well said, Speaker. I think back again to the opportunity we have before us, especially my task, to a certain degree, in the modular homes sector. We are looking at government lands where we can facilitate affordable and attainable housing builds throughout the province. We have a housing summit planned for later in November. We’re looking at every avenue. Again, government by itself here is not going to solve the problem. We have to work collaboratively with our municipal, federal, non-profit sector and private sector, including, I want to add, financial institutions, as I already have. Our mission is a call to action. It is our collective mission throughout this province.

With that, I’d like to turn the floor over to the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.