I do appreciate this opportunity to participate in second reading debate this afternoon of Bill 185, Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act.

As the minister and my colleagues have made very clear, this spring red tape reduction package follows on the tremendous progress made by our government to reduce regulatory burden to better serve the citizens of Ontario.

Over the past four years, this government’s efforts to reduce the burden of red tape has saved Ontario businesses and the broader public sector over $958 million in gross annualized compliance costs and have helped create the conditions for people and businesses to thrive. I believe all members of this House will agree then that this proposed legislation makes great strides and will continue to have a profound, positive impact as we work hand in hand to build Ontario’s bright future tomorrow and to do it together.

Our new proposed legislation aligns strongly with this government’s excellent record of common-sense changes that help hard-working Ontarians.

Speaker, I am proud of the work being done day in and day out across our government and within my ministry, the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery, to fulfill our mandate to the people of this province.

On December 4 of last year, this House unanimously passed a landmark piece of legislation, the Better for Consumers, Better for Businesses Act, 2023. The new Consumer Protection Act, once enforced, will make it easier for businesses to comply with consumer protection rules in our increasingly digital-first marketplace.

Furthermore, earlier this year on February 22, the Building Infrastructure Safely Act, 2024, was passed by this House, also unanimously. This prohibits underground infrastructure owners and operators from charging fees for locates. Now, providing locates free of charge is consistent, of course, with a long-standing practice that exists across Canada and the United States, and increases public safety while minimizing damage to critical infrastructure from the construction process.

These are just a couple of examples of how the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery continues to update legislation and regulations and takes concrete action to enable the citizens and the residents of Ontario to thrive while our businesses prosper.

Reducing red tape is a key part of building a stronger economy, and under the leadership of the Premier, we are continuing to bring forward additional packages that are saving businesses costs and time and reducing burden.

I would like to provide an overview of the initiatives that the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery is proposing in this package. Our government is putting Ontarians first by making it easier and more convenient for businesses to find the information they need to operate across Ontario.

For decades, Ontario businesses have been frustrated by red tape and drawn-out processes. They called for better access to the information they need when they need it. Consistent and predictable timelines are needed to plan projects and to ensure success. We have heard from Ontario business owners who face difficulties in finding information online about permit and licence services as well as the timelines for obtaining these items.

That is why, two years ago, our government, in the 42nd Parliament, introduced, and this House passed, the At Your Service Act, 2022. That was part of that year’s spring red tape reduction package.

The act established a single website to access authoritative information and services that businesses need to become both functional and successful. Through the Ontario.ca/business website, our government is making it easier to both start and to grow a business.

This resource was the first step toward creating a single window for businesses, reducing the administrative burdens for business owners and for not-for-profits. By taking the confusion out of completing necessary paperwork and permits, we have enabled entrepreneurs to better focus on growing our economy and serving our communities. We are working together with businesses to continuously improve the website so that Ontario businesses can focus on what matters, and that is starting, running and growing their operations, creating well-paying jobs and spurring our communities forward to success.

Our vision is to provide a best-in-class online experience. This is for businesses and for entrepreneurs. This is the goal rather than what we have had in the past: fragmented experiences that businesses cannot cope with and should not have to cope with. Businesses should be able to easily navigate multiple websites across ministries. While this is a work in progress, we are continuously taking important steps to make it a reality.

The At Your Service Act, 2022, set the stage to provide businesses with realistic public-facing service standards for various approvals, permits and licences, with services added on a regular basis. It confirms once again that this government is constantly focused on business growth in Ontario. Business growth in Ontario and the conditions that create it are what lead to more jobs, better-paying jobs, prosperity for all and revenue to fund core public services such as health care, education and social services and the ability to make investments in the future to build Ontario.

That is why the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery is proposing a regulation under the At Your Service Act, 2022, to require ministries to develop service standards for permits and licence services delivered to businesses and to report on those standards publicly, thus improving transparency and accountability.

Having a clear understanding of the length of time it takes to obtain permits and licences would help Ontario businesses understand how long they can expect to wait for a decision about a permit or licence they need to get to work and to plan accordingly. This government is committed to reducing administrative burdens for those seeking permits, for those seeking licences and for any information that is sought with respect to any other type of government approval. This government seeks to improve the overall user experience so, again, businesses are able to get down to work, to be successful and to make plans accordingly in a rapid fashion.

Updating service standards for permits and licences would help businesses plan and be more efficient so that they can spend more time on their priorities and spend less time navigating through red tape. Fundamentally, then, business initiatives should never be hampered by government backlog or government uncertainty.

Speaker, Ontario is open for business under this government. We need to support and ease burdens that stifle those building Ontario’s future. For far too long, ambitious projects have been stalled by delay after delay while entrepreneurs attempt to secure permits with little to no clarity on timelines. This is unacceptable. There must be transparency and clear public communications regarding service standards for permits and licences delivered to businesses. Accountability built on clear outcome-based performance measures is essential to the government playing its role to foster competitiveness and growth throughout Ontario.

As part of this single-window approach, we are also working on our evolving permit tracker which will allow businesses to track the status of their applications, starting with select high-volume services for the Ministry of Transportation. Those permits are related to highway corridor management permitting, including sign, entrance, encroachment and building and land use permits that are required on Ontario highways across the province. We will provide easy-to-use information online about the status of permits, applications and filings.

Speaker, this government has listened to the feedback that Ontario businesses have provided, and we are providing tools and transparency so that businesses understand how long they can expect to wait for a decision about a permit or a licence that is needed. The setting of business standards, together with the permit tracker, are crucial steps in our ongoing efforts to establish a one-window-for-business approach. That one-window-for-business approach must be the way forward to working with government in order to reduce administrative burdens and end uncertainty and unnecessary delays. This is the way forward to achieving our priorities for the future and to empower digital government through best practices.

We will continue to work tirelessly to provide an integrated digital experience that will make it easier for businesses to access the information and the services they need to get up and running, create new jobs, grow their businesses and grow the economy as a whole, while supporting essential government services with the revenue that all of that generates. That’s what we mean when we say that a Progressive Conservative government, led by this Premier, creates the conditions for success all around, both in the private and the public sector.

And I would like to highlight another way this government, under the leadership of the Premier, is improving services with standardized and streamlining processes: modernizing the administration of transfer payments to improve service delivery. The Transfer Payment Ontario system, or TPON, is the single digital enterprise-wide platform for administering transfer payments by the Ontario public service. Payment systems currently used run across 26 ministries, and these administer annual program funding of over $12 billion.

This helps to ensure a common approach to transfer payment programming, and it simplifies program administration by streamlining access to funding and by reducing the administrative burden for recipients. The Transfer Payment Ontario system eliminates duplication and eliminates unnecessary reporting requirements for transfer payment recipients, but it also improves user experience and makes it easier for people and organizations to interact with government.

Now, another change regarding streamlining our government’s cash flow is our proposal for a regulation that would allow us to accept modern forms of payment from debtors who may owe money to the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund, MVACF. My colleagues may know that the MVACF is the payer of last resort in the context of uninsured motorist claims in the province of Ontario. If one is involved in a car accident where no private automobile insurance is available to respond to the claim, that person may be eligible for compensation from MVACF, or the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund. When MVACF pays a claim on behalf of an uninsured driver or vehicle owner, the fund obtains a judgment against that uninsured party.

After all, under the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act, it is required by law to have insurance; all motorists must do so. Of course, it’s an offence when there is no insurance in place. But the reality is, those who are injured by or harmed by such a motorist—uninsured and in breach of the law—their remedy would not be available, in terms of compensation, if there was no other backup funding; hence the payer of last resort, MVACF. So the party against whom a judgment has been obtained, because that party is uninsured, becomes a judgment debtor to the province. The judgment debtor is then required to pay MVACF back for the value of the judgment, which, at a maximum, could be as much as $200,000 plus legal costs. The current regulation requires that the payment can only be made by cash, bank drafts or money orders. We are proposing, by a proposed regulation, to expand this to include digital forms of payment. This is the sort of common-sense modernization effort that my ministry continues to move across the finish line.

I would like to take a moment to speak about an announcement in January of this year that relates to our mission of finding ways to make processes much easier for all Ontarians.

The tragic legacy of Indian residential schools continues to be a tremendous source of pain and suffering within Indigenous communities. We can never forget that more than 150,000 Indigenous children were removed from their families and their communities and sent to Indian residential schools between 1870 and 1996.

This government has been working tirelessly with Indigenous partners to support meaningful reconciliation and a broader understanding of the legacy of residential schools. To date, our government has committed millions to support the identification, investigation, protection, and commemoration of burials at former residential schools across our province. This commitment was taken even further with an additional $25-million allocation announced in the 2023 budget. The funding will provide resources for community coordinators, researchers and technical experts to engage with survivors, mental health supports, archival analysis, and deployment of ground-scanning technologies.

As we continue to advance meaningful reconciliation, the province is also making it easier and more affordable for Indigenous community members to access both services and records. We now have a streamlined process that eliminates the need to request death searches from two offices—that’s the Archives of Ontario and ServiceOntario’s Office of the Registrar General. As part of this process, it is this government that is providing financial relief for impacted Indigenous communities; that is, fees are being permanently waived for death registration searches, death certificates, and certified copies of death registrations. Fees are also being waived for a delayed registration of death for children who attended Indian residential schools.

We are also removing fees to support residential school survivors and their families who are seeking to reclaim traditional names that were changed by this archaic system. This initiative was one of the 94 calls to action put forward by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and it is fully supported by this government and, indeed, I believe, by every member of this House.

We are also making it easier for Indigenous persons changing their name to a single name to reflect their traditional culture, including on birth and marriage certificates, at no cost.

Ontario was the first jurisdiction in Canada to explicitly allow for a birth to be registered with a single name or for a person to change their name to a single name.

This is our commitment—just one of many demonstrable commitments to meaningful reconciliation.

The Archives of Ontario is the primary source of information about the history of our province, and I’m also proud to say that it is the largest one of its kind in Canada, and I’m proud that York University is building and has built and maintained a pristine facility that plays host to all of those important documents that pertain to the history of our province.

Since 1903, the archives has collected, preserved and made available documents that are available and essential for educational purposes and historic purposes. The staff are second to none in ensuring that records that date back to the 16th century, and that include handwritten letters, books, maps, architectural drawings, photographs, artwork, films and sound recordings, electronic documents and more—this leadership in record-keeping, access and privacy to the public service, provincial agencies and the broader public sector is essential.

There has been a fee for the archive facilities of $6,300 for third-party vendors to film. This inhibited filmmakers. We propose to abolish it, and that is because these organizations may not have the financial means to cover such a substantial fee. We’re eliminating that fee—or we propose to do so. We want encourage filmmakers and organizations who wish to develop content inside of the Archives of Ontario to do so.

These are practical measures that reduce burden, that reduce cost, that reduce red tape and regulation, and this is one of a series of bills that this government has introduced to this House. We encourage all members listening and those who will vote on this at some stage in the near future to support this bill for its practical effect, for its widespread effect and for the fact that it helps to create a better province for all.

While we’re on the subject of red tape, do you think that the fact that the Premier doubled his office budget in just five years and increased the staff from 20 to 48 on the sunshine list—that that just doesn’t add more red tape? I’d ask the member: If he wants to stop the gravy train, it’s starting from the Premier’s office.

Interjection: Choo-choo.

It is my honour and privilege to stand to speak about Bill 185, the Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act.

Before I start, I want to say to all Ontarians, happy Holi, Lent and Easter, Ramadan and Eid, and Vaisakhi. I hope everyone had a good time with family and friends. And soon we are going to be looking forward to other holidays such as Orthodox Easter and Passover. Only in Canada is it possible to celebrate so many different cultural and religious occasions. This is the great multiculturalism that our nation has to offer.

Madam Speaker, it’s not a surprise that Ontario is the number one destination for new immigrants—for its economic and job opportunities and its diverse cultures, which helps new immigrants to settle.

It’s no secret that Ontario is in the midst of a housing supply crisis. Young families, newcomers, and many Ontarians are struggling to find a home within their budget that meets their needs. We have been raising this concern and sounding the alarm since 2018. When demand exceeds supply, prices go up. That’s the cause of the present crisis. By the time we came to office six years ago, this had become a main concern that we committed to solving.

Canada’s population continues to increase. And many of these new people are coming here to Ontario to enjoy all this province has to offer. These people will need jobs, health care and housing. And while the population of our province has continued to grow at an exponential rate, Ontario’s housing supply has not kept up. Because of neglect and failure to act from previous governments, Ontario is facing a critical housing shortage.

To make matters worse, there continue to be obstacles to getting homes built. The average period between a developer acquiring land and starting to sell units is approximately 11 years—and this is not what I’m saying; this is what the president of the mayors’ association said at the hearing of one of the four housing bills this government introduced in the past few years. This 11-year period is unacceptable. Red tape and uncertainty are getting in the way of progress.

Let’s make no mistake about it: The demand for housing is high. The number of willing developers is high. The conditions are right for growth. Ontarians are ready to put shovels in the ground. We cannot let anything stop that. The governments’ job now is to get it done and get out of the way.

That’s why this government, under the leadership of our amazing Premier, is acting to cut red tape and get homes built faster. The government has promised 1.5 million homes by 2031, and certainly, we are already on our way.

The bills that this Legislature has passed over the past few years are allowing for housing construction like this province has never seen before. Progress is being made. And it’s obvious that those bills we did before, like the last four housing bills, already began showing progress. We are seeing a lot of numbers of new homes that we have never seen in the province for the past 10 years.

In the meantime, there is still more work to be done, still more homes to be built, still more red tape to be cut. We will do everything we can to reach our housing targets. We will get it done.

So I am very happy to be speaking today about Bill 185, the Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act. This bill, if passed, will speed up government processes, make expectations clearer and streamline approvals. With less red tape, government will be able to focus clearly on the goal, 1.5 million homes by 2031, including 120,000 homes in Mississauga.

Let’s start by discussing Peel region. Last year, we passed the Hazel McCallion Act, 2023. Speaker, as you might remember, the goal of this bill was to find efficiencies in the municipal structure of Peel region and, if possible, eliminate duplication of tasks. We wanted to give municipalities the tools to grow and meet their goals. Consequently, we began the process of studying the relationship between the municipalities of Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon and, of course, the region of Peel. The transition board has been working hard on this issue, and we have learned a lot. It has become clear that complete dissolution of Peel region is not what the people of Mississauga expect from us. The enormous cost of doing that would have unintended consequences such as tax hikes and disruption of critical services. This is out of the question. Tax hikes would only make the current challenges worse. Therefore, we are going to ensure that all services residents of Peel expect are continued without interruption. We can still find efficiencies and improve regional governance but without the complexity and disruption of a divorce.

Instead of full dissolution, the new mandate of the transition board, under this proposed bill, would be to make the local governments more efficient. The transition board will provide financial oversight and recommendations about the delivery of services such as water, regional roads and waste management. This is a good compromise because it means the people of Mississauga will get all the benefits of the more efficient system of municipal governance without risking tax hikes or service disruption.

As part of this process, the government is moving forward with removing duplication. We know that too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the broth. Likewise, duplication of red tape and government bureaucracy slows things down. For example, when a new development needs approval from both an upper-tier municipality like Peel, for example, and a lower-tier municipality like Mississauga, this delays construction starts, and in some cases, this might even result in projects being entirely cancelled.

This bill would, if passed, ensure that planning responsibilities in Peel, Halton and York are transferred to lower-tier municipalities effective July 1. This would allow municipalities to move efficiently to deliver on shared provincial-municipal priorities like housing—no more duplication, no more overlap. We trust that municipalities would use their powers diligently, responsibly and effectively. Just because there are less steps in the process doesn’t mean that the process is any less important. Municipalities will still need to work hard to get housing approved. We can’t accept excuses of NIMBYism or bureaucratic delays. But by removing duplication, I’m hopeful that wait times can decrease and construction on important projects can begin sooner.

This brings me to a second point about red tape reduction that will be critical in getting developments started. This bill would strengthen approval timelines by closing a loophole that allowed municipalities to use pre-application requirements to extend the deadlines. In the past few years, we have seen abuse of this loophole to lengthen timelines and create additional bureaucratic hurdles. Decisions need to be made in a timely manner. This bill, if passed, would stop this unfair practice and ensure applications are approved on time.

Similarly, once an application has been approved, we don’t want developers to sit on their hands forever, hoarding municipal infrastructure such as allocations of water and waste water management. In many cases, there is a limited capacity for municipal water infrastructure. This bottlenecks what can be approved. So if developers don’t use their allocations, they will lose it. Municipalities can then reallocate infrastructure and approve applications for projects that are ready to build now—no more waiting for projects that never start. If a project is ready to go, let’s get it done. Let’s get it started.

Another change to get more housing built would be to remove parking requirements near major transit station areas. We know that parking spaces take a lot of land, time and cost to build. Municipalities often have their own complex rules, setting minimum parking quantities. Depending on the project, this can cost between $2,000 and $100,000 per parking spot, so when dealing with hundreds of parking spots, that cost adds up very quickly. In some developments, parking alone can be millions and millions of dollars. By removing this requirement, projects could move forward with more reasonable parking allowances, at the developer’s discretion, saving time and money for new construction near transit. Thus, more homes close to transit can get built faster and at a cheaper cost. It would be a win-win for everyone.

Likewise, the government is considering policies that would reduce barriers for building additional residential units such as garden, laneway and basement suites. These types of properties have already been encouraged in previous bills, such as when we legalized three units as-of-right in the More Homes Built Faster Act, but there remain practical considerations that have discouraged these types of housing. For example, some municipalities have restrictions about maximum coverage of a lot, preventing these garden units from being built. Bill 185 would give the government regulation-making authority to change those policies, encouraging more of these homes to be built.

On another note, we will soon see an updated version of the building code. The government has announced that the upcoming building code revisions will allow more consistency with national standards, reducing duplication and red tape, and new projects such as mass timber buildings of 18 storeys will be permitted.

If this bill is passed, regulation-making authority will exist to allow pre-approved standardized housing designs such as the catalogues being prepared by the federal and British Columbia governments. This would allow quick construction and even the use of modular construction.

Madam Speaker, I recently visited an Oakville-based business called Ballance Containers. This is an organization that specializes in modular construction, with simple, quick, and easy-to-build homes. I was impressed to see the versatility, easiness and efficiency of this unconventional technology. Innovative solutions like modular construction is absolutely critical to achieving our goals. I’m glad to see the government supporting it. And I hope we will be able to see even more creative solutions in the future.

Finally, this bill would make it easier for publicly assisted universities to build student housing. This will allow faster and cheaper construction of student residences, with more density around campuses. Students, like everyone else, deserve a home they can afford. By giving universities these additional tools, these institutions will have the authority to take the initiative to build affordable housing options with an easy commute to campus for students.

I also want to briefly mention one more tool that we are giving municipalities so they can continue to grow. This bill is proposing to enable municipalities to provide incentives to specified businesses where necessary to attract investment in Ontario. If the Lieutenant Governor in Council determines that an incentive is desirable in the provincial interest, they would have regulatory authority to permit it. This will allow us to attract even more investments, such as in manufacturing and housing.

We know that good-paying jobs and large investments from businesses are important to keep our economy thriving. Already, the reduction of red tape and the implementation of incentives have allowed tens of billions of dollars to flow to Ontario. Huge investments in manufacturing, such as electric vehicles and batteries, have been made possible because of the work of this government in attracting record-setting levels of investments.

Our thanks go, of course, to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade for leading the government’s progress on attracting foreign investment.

Therefore, we must continue to attract investments. And if necessary, that means giving municipalities the tools they need to succeed.

With proper oversight, this will be an important tool to help strengthen our economy, attract investments, and continue building our cities.

Finally, let me mention the changes this bill is proposing for streamlining the appeals process for new development projects. In the last two years alone, 67,000 housing units were subject to third-party appeals at the Ontario Land Tribunal because of official plan or zoning issues—this is tens of thousands of homes being delayed. We want to reduce the number of delays caused by unnecessary or frivolous appeals, so this bill would, if passed, focus third-party appeals to key participants such as public bodies and utility providers. This bill would therefore increase certainty for developers, helping them get shovels in the ground at a quick and steady pace. We don’t want anything to delay these projects, nor do we want to cause Ontarians unnecessary agony as they wait for months on end for endless appeals. Our goal is to reduce delays, remove unnecessary costs, create standardized and efficient processes so that projects can get under way.

In conclusion, there are a lot of proposed changes packed into this bill. But they all come back to the same goal: Our government wants to reduce red tape, make it easier to grow our cities and build homes. No single solution or idea is going solve the problem. There is no bulletproof solution. But every single one of these solutions is a step forward. And working together, I’m confident we will be able to meet our goals.

At the end of the day, every family deserves a home that meets their needs at a price they can afford. We will do what we can to make that happen, including by cutting red tape and getting the government out of the way. We will get it done.

That’s why I fully support Bill 185, the Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, and I encourage my colleagues to do the same.