Last Friday, the Associate Minister of Housing, the Honourable Rob Flack, and I announced that our government is providing $1.2 million to help create housing units in Whitby that will support youth 19 to 24 years old experiencing or at risk of homelessness, mental health and addiction issues. This investment is part of the province’s social services relief fund which has provided over $1.2 billion of support to help municipal service managers and Indigenous program administrators create longer-term housing solutions and help vulnerable people in Ontario.

The Ontario government is also investing an additional $202 million this year in homelessness prevention programs. This includes an allocation of $18.7 million to the Homelessness Prevention Program for the region of Durham in 2023-24, looking after the hard-working families in the region of Durham.

Thank you, Speaker, and through you to our presenter and my colleague: When we were first elected in 2022, we told hard-working Ontarians that we’re going to build 1.5 million homes by 2031 and tackle the housing supply crisis in communities across Ontario, including Whitby. We’re making great strides in achieving this, but the decision by the Ontario Energy Board made last year burdens new home buyers by forcing them to pay high installation costs for affordable and reliable natural gas to heat their homes.

I know that we’re continuing to work hard to get more homes built in Ontario.

Therefore, I want to ask the member, through you, Speaker, how would this bill help to keep housing more affordable?