The member for Waterloo is heckling me right now—addressing recognizing gaps in middle-income housing, supportive housing and modular housing. We’re taking every opportunity and implementing every tool to ensure that Ontarians have a place to call home that meets their price point. This is so important. Last year alone, we had over half a million new immigrants come to Ontario—and that doesn’t include the hundreds of thousands more who will move here from other provinces, or international students who come here to study at our world-class colleges and universities.

The Premier said it before—and I’ll remind everyone in the chamber today: We need a wartime effort to build as many homes as possible. As our province grows and as people come here seeking a better life, we as a community need to fight to ensure that the dream of home ownership is protected for the next generation and for all those who come to Ontario.

While this side of the House and the middle over there will fight for people’s path to home ownership, the opposition continues to drag their feet on helping to house Ontarians. The members opposite said we held our housing supply action plans back five years—I find it very rich, from the members opposite who voted no on the four housing supply action plans we’ve brought to this House so far; I hope they vote for the next one we bring in. I really do hope they vote for the greenbelt bill we’re going to bring in to codify the boundaries of the greenbelt and add to the greenbelt. Time will tell.

Speaker, we’ve made it easier for homeowners to create additional residential units above garages, basements or in laneways; again, the opposition voted against it. We streamlined modular unit residential building approvals; they voted against it. It seems to be a pattern, everyone.

We took steps to bolster consumer protection around purchasing new homes—it’s a big life decision; they voted against it.

Every time we take steps to build homes, to protect tenants and streamline services, the NDP and Liberals stand against it. In doing so, they stand against a younger person just wanting to move out of their parents’ basement; they stand against the aging couple looking to downsize but who can’t afford to stay in their community where they raised their children and where their children and grandchildren live now; they stand against the next generation of Ontarians just wanting a chance at a normal life. This government will stand with those Ontarians—will stand with those young people, will stand with those seniors who want to downsize. We proudly stand with everyone looking for a path to home ownership, and we’ll continue to do so.

As I alluded to, we have tabled multiple housing supply action bills, and we’ll continue to do so and consult with our municipal partners, homebuilders and other stakeholders across the riding. Our government has already delivered on four of these bills since 2018, and we committed in an election to introduce one in each year of our four-year mandate. We will do that, demonstrating our commitment and resolve to get 1.5 million homes, at least, built by 2031.

As was referred to, I believe, earlier today in debate on Bill 134, there’s no silver bullet to the housing supply crisis. We’re doing the hard work that is necessary and working with our partners to fill our housing mandate. As circumstances and pressures change, we’re also committed to working with our municipal partners, with community builders, with—

In fact, this new Minister of Housing—when he came in, the first thing he did with our municipal partners was, he went back out to them and said, “We have 75 recommendations from our housing task force—we’re on 23 partly or almost completed. Please tell us how we reach those goals moving forward.” I know my municipal partners appreciated that opportunity to submit that feedback. They are submitting that feedback because we are listening to our municipal partners and we’re working with our municipal partners.

Interjection.

And as we do so, our government is always looking for better ways to ease the pressures on some of our most vulnerable communities.

Through our reinforcement of our supportive housing initiatives, an extra $200 million a year in the Homelessness Prevention Program, $700 million total—historic investments, which, again, our municipal partners asked for, and we listened to them.

We are confident we can build homes that meet the broad range of needs at every price point that works for residents.

We recognize that 1.5 million homes is not just a number, but it’s an offer of stability and opportunity for those families who will come to occupy them. A home is a place to start a family, to make memories, to see your children take their first steps, to clean up after your pet, to learn and grow within a community. Every Ontarian deserves that opportunity, and our government is here to make that happen.

This past summer, I had an opportunity, on behalf of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, to make a few announcements across Ontario, where we’re putting real investments into supportive housing through the government of Ontario Social Services Relief Fund. I was in Paris, Ontario—not Paris, France, unfortunately, but Paris, Ontario is great, as well—with MPP Bouma and mayors Kevin Davis and David Bailey to announce $340,000 to help create 15 affordable housing units, to support individuals and families with a variety of accessible needs, those who have experienced domestic violence, and people of Indigenous ancestries. This is very important to ensuring, again, that all Ontarians have a place to call their own.

Just a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to announce a similar investment in my own riding, in Stratford, in one of the communities that I have the great honour of representing in this place. The governments of Ontario and Canada are providing more than $3 million to build 33 affordable housing units in Stratford, and our government is providing an additional $1 million through the social services relief fund to create six additional affordable units. I know the chattering classes on Twitter like to say, “Oh, it’s the federal government,” but in this case, the province is actually contributing more to these projects than our federal partners. Speaker, I don’t have to tell you what it means for these communities. While they are going to be able to welcome more individuals and families to their communities, they are also being given the tools to ensure their most vulnerable residents are looked after in a way that is comfortable and affordable.

We know we have to build homes, and that’s why we’re also here to stand up for the little guy and girl, the members of our communities who have been priced out of the housing and real estate markets because of the decades of Liberal and NDP mismanagement and carelessness. The Liberals added mountains of red tape to the community building process during their time in government, and the only problem the NDP had with this is that they didn’t add more.

We’ve talked a lot about red tape here in this chamber, and all too often it may lose its meaning to the members of the opposition, but that red tape is exactly what stands in the way of young families purchasing a starter home or a family of a new Canadian getting into their first apartment or home. The red tape has real consequences, and under the current circumstances of a generational housing crisis, we just can’t afford these consequences. It’s not going to be easy. Since 2018, this government has worked day in and day out to jump-start our economy from the grinding halt the Liberals and the NDP brought it to. We’ve brought in record investments and job creation to the province of Ontario. We’ve got job offers, but we need the people for those jobs.

We’re thrilled to welcome hundreds of thousands of new Ontarians each and every year—including more than 500,000 last year, as I alluded to earlier. We need them to come to Ontario to join our workforce because that means our small businesses are growing, our tech and innovation sectors are growing—the great innovation happening in the region of Waterloo is growing—and we’re going to be able to better compete on a global stage, and that will be able to generate more wealth for our communities. But that doesn’t happen without new homes.

This past summer, many Torontonians saw the unfortunate reality many immigrants and asylum seekers face upon arriving to Canada. Many of them had nowhere to go but the streets of downtown Toronto.

Last month, our government announced an additional $42 million through the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit program to support the city of Toronto and other impacted municipalities in ensuring newcomers to Ontario have the supports they need to build a new life here in communities that are safe, welcoming and full of opportunities. Mayor Chow came to the table in good faith, and two levels of government were able to work together to address a pressing issue in Toronto. I wish the NDP would show the same commitment in helping newcomers find a home.

About a month and a half ago, I had the opportunity to meet many municipal partners at the Association of Municipalities Ontario annual conference. I know members of the opposition were also there, but obviously many government colleagues were there as well. I met communities—from St. Catharines to Sioux Lookout, the region of Waterloo and Kirkland Lake. Municipalities across the province are ready to build, and our government is constantly ready to hear feedback and advice from our municipal partners to ensure that we are all on the same page and on the right track towards meeting our commitments.

Municipalities large and small, right across Ontario, are fully on board with our government’s plan to build at least 1.5 million new homes by 2031. There is no way around it—for our communities to grow and prosper, we need to make room for more people, and that’s a good thing.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Infrastructure, we’re unlocking new opportunities to build our communities. Through the Transit-Oriented Communities Program, our government is ensuring residents are served conveniently and comfortably within their communities, reinforcing communities alongside major transit corridors, including subway and LRT lines. By building communities along these corridors, we are working to increase transit ridership, stimulate local economic development, and most importantly, we are increasing housing supply. When we build communities around convenient transit corridors, we’re providing a sense of stability and belonging for residents; we’re building a place where people can work, play and raise a family. These priorities are so important for the people of Ontario. Far too often, when parents are stuck in gridlock trying to get home to their families after work, they are missing out on time spent with their families—and that’s what a community is supposed to be all about. But we also know that not everyone can or wants to live in an urban core.

I was born and raised in Harriston, Ontario. You probably don’t know where that is. It’s a very small town in Wellington county.

I can say—I live in Mitchell now—that growing up and building a life in any of our vibrant rural communities in Ontario is truly an exceptional experience. We are truly blessed to live in Ontario.

The rural way of life is something that we must protect and cherish for our next generation, but it is also something that we must preserve for new Canadians to join and be a part of. The housing crisis is not just something experienced in the greater Toronto area; it extends to every community and every small town in this province.

I speak to young people regularly in my community, and I hear them saying they want to stay and raise a family in the communities where they grew up, but it’s becoming harder and harder to find a home that they can provide at a price point that they can afford.

We provide incentives to large municipalities across the province through a variety of programs—but most recently through the Building Faster Fund, which is $1.2 billion devoted to rewarding municipalities for reaching and exceeding their annual housing targets. Along with these incentives, we’ve also allocated 10% of that program, or roughly $120 million, to smaller municipalities that have not been allocated housing targets. I know our rural and smaller municipalities appreciate this because, unfortunately, under the federal Rapid Housing Initiative, they do not qualify and would not be able to compete with the larger urban centres in Canada. So we’re really trying to address the missing middle with the funding gaps through that by providing these funds in a percentage of the Building Faster Fund, and I know we’ll continue to consult with our rural and northern municipalities on how to best utilize this for themselves. This will allow small towns in Perth and Wellington counties as well as other small municipalities right across the province to increase their capacity to service new homes and build new communities.

Every time I get to rise in this House, as a young person from rural Ontario, to speak about our growing needs of the next generation, it’s an incredible honour. The great thing about Ontario, whether your family has been here for generations or if you immigrated here last week, is that the opportunities are endless; if you work hard, you can achieve anything. Under the leadership of Premier Ford and his Minister of Economic Development, we have worked hard to ensure that that dream is still alive and well in Ontario. By attracting the good manufacturing jobs back to Ontario, the 300,000 that left under the former Liberal and NDP-propped-up government—attracting 700,000 new jobs since 2018, good-paying jobs. And people having a job to provide for their families is so important. We will continue to do that, moving forward, in everything we can do—but we had to bring it back, as I alluded to earlier in my remarks, from what was left when former Premier Wynne left office in 2018. We had to bring it back from the brink.

They have talked about the scandals under the former Liberal government as well today, but we can go back in time a little more, when there was a Rae government—not me, but a Bob Rae government. I was only zero at the time when he came into office, so I don’t remember much—but I read it in the history books. I find it ironic that they refer to this—that we’re not building up housing, but they vote against every housing supply action bill we bring to this place. When they held government—not the balance of power—three things happened: We lost jobs in Ontario, we lost businesses in Ontario, and we lost homes in Ontario.

We are not going to return to the Rae days of Bob Rae. We’re going to continue to build 1.5 million homes to ensure that my colleagues can find a place to live, new Canadians can find a place to live—young people like Brampton North over there can find a place to live and own a property. We’re going to continue to get it done for the people of Ontario.

They talk about taking time away from when they could bring forward legislation to make housing more affordable, to get more homes built—and they don’t do that.

They already highlighted—at a committee before this House, we’ll hear and study the Auditor General’s report, at the public accounts committee. This committee will hear that report. That is in their mandate, and they will discuss this report at that committee.

I also find it very rich, from the opposition—when they want to regulate Airbnb, essentially. I will let the opposition know that municipalities can actually bring in a bylaw already that can regulate Airbnb, and some have. So it’s not the province’s mandate to regulate Airbnb. But maybe under an NDP government, they’ll want to regulate Airbnb.

It’s an honour to rise here today and take some time to recognize the many important investments and changes that our government is making to build Ontario. I’d also like to say, Speaker, that I’ll be sharing my time with my great colleague from Markham–Thornhill as well.

All of us here today and all Ontarians can be proud that Ontario is seen as a leader and as a role model not only by other Canadian provinces but jurisdictions around the world. This reality reflects just how hard our government is working to make sure Ontario is a world-class place to live, work and play. Having said that, Speaker, our work is far from finished, and indeed we are just getting started.

With the federal government announcing a plan that would see half a million new immigrants to Canada each year by 2025, it’s imperative that we create an environment here in Ontario that is welcoming to new Canadians and provides opportunity to prosper. Just a few weeks ago, Speaker, Ontario’s Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, alongside the federal Minister of Immigration, announced Ontario will be doubling the number of economic immigrants it accepts to 18,000 people by the year 2025. In this budget, Speaker, we’re also investing an additional $25 million over three years to ensure that as we welcome more people to our province, especially skilled workers, we provide the supports they need. All of this is to say that, while our government has taken important steps already to promote new jobs and promote innovation in a variety of sectors, there’s much more to be done to build an Ontario that can fill the dreams of hundreds of thousands of new Canadians that will call Ontario home in the years to come.

It’s not easy to pick up your life and move across the world to a different country, but our government has taken action every step of the way to ensure every new Canadian who looks to call Ontario home is supported and has opportunities to succeed. We’re building a strong Ontario in order to welcome new Ontarians who will help us build an even stronger Ontario in the years to come.

So let’s take a trip and look at exactly how our plan put forward in the Building a Strong Ontario Act will address current priorities and support the dreams of all those who will come to call our province home. While many newcomers to our province will likely fly into Toronto Pearson International Airport, they might soon decide they want a quieter lifestyle outside of the big city of Toronto or the GTA—no offence to my GTA colleagues in the place today. They might look to places like St. Marys or Palmerston, each unique in their own ways but with a growing immigrant population. They may even decide to call these rural communities their new home.

Well, that’s good news, because, as our government has outlined in our plan to build a strong Ontario, this plan benefits all communities across the province of Ontario. This budget highlights supports for all Ontarians looking to start a family, grow in their chosen trade or profession and play an active role in their community. In communities like mine, our government’s investments in the Dual Credit Program to expand the veterinary training and rural infrastructure will help build a strong Ontario.

Speaker, our government has overseen the licensing of over 13,000 internationally trained nurses, with over 3,100 soon to receive their licence to practise in Ontario. Beyond that, we have taken significant steps to expand training and employment opportunities for health care workers right across the province. The Ontario Learn and Stay Grant: Our government is targeting up to 2,500 post-secondary students in nursing, medical laboratory technologists and paramedic programs aimed at reinforcing our health care capacity in under-served communities in rural and northern Ontario, benefiting Perth–Wellington directly as well.

To ease the pressures faced by nurses and other health care workers on the front lines, our government is more than doubling our previous investment by allocating an additional $100.8 million over the next three years to expand and accelerate the rollout of undergraduate and post-graduate seats at Ontario medical schools. We’re also investing an additional $33 million over three years to add 100 undergrad seats beginning in 2023—this year, Speaker—as well as 154 post-graduate medical training seats to prioritize Ontario residents trained at home and abroad beginning in 2024 and going forward.

We’re taking steps to further alleviate pressures on our health care system by investing an additional $3.3 million over the next three years to expand access to the Dual Credit Program and health-care-related courses. Our government is investing in supporting an additional 1,400 secondary school students across Ontario to get their career started in health care. So not only does our government have a plan to license and integrate internationally trained health care workers into our hospitals and long-term-care spaces in Perth–Wellington and right across the province, but our plan protects and expands the capacity of our health care system now and well into the future.

Connectivity is an important part of ensuring high-quality care for all those who need it. We all know too well the devastating impact that mental health crises are having in our communities across Ontario, and I’m sure that every one of us in this place today knows someone in their life who has struggled with mental health issues. It’s not an issue that is exclusive to one group of people. The unfortunate reality is that mental health struggles have taken root in each and every one of our communities. That’s why our government is providing an additional $425 million over three years—in addition to our $3.8-billion commitment in previous budgets—to address mental health and addiction supports.

Community-based mental health and addiction services provide crucial supports, ensuring a swift delivery of care to those who need it and where they need it most. To that end, Speaker, our government recognizes that those who struggle with mental health and addictions are often some of the most vulnerable in our communities. That’s why we’re also investing an additional $202 million each year in the Homelessness Prevention Program and the Indigenous Supportive Housing Program.

More than just a roof over their head, the supportive housing initiatives our government is establishing are directly integrated with mental health and addiction supports, job training and providing a springboard for vulnerable Ontarians to recover. This approach is supported by experts, municipalities and other stakeholders. In addition to reducing costs in other sectors, supportive housing provides people in Ontario with an opportunity to live happier, healthier and fulfilling lives.

In rural Ontario, part of what makes us a healthy, happy and fulfilling place to live is our agricultural roots in our communities. For generations, we have taken pride in the fact that many of us make a living growing our crops and raising livestock, not only for our own communities, our cities in the province of Ontario, but across the world.

The people of Perth–Wellington and across rural Ontario know just how complex and integrated our agri-food sector is, and while our farmers themselves play a central role, they also rely on food scientists, transport workers, engineers and veterinarians, to just name a few.

With that in mind, this budget is addressing the pressing issues faced by our agriculture sector, including improving access to veterinary care for our livestock farmers. Speaker, our government is investing $14.7 million over two years to launch a collaborative doctor of veterinary medicine program at the University of Guelph, of which I am a proud alum, and Lakehead University—a crucial step in the right direction to protecting and expanding our agriculture sector in southwestern Ontario and right across the province.

Veterinarians play an important role in our agricultural sector. Speaker, at the most basic level, vets are there to make sure farmers can be confident in raising healthy livestock by diagnosing and treating diseases and disorders and advising farmers on hygiene and general strategies for their animals. At a broad level, vets are stewards of the food safety and security standards we have here in Ontario and that we expect and are so proud of.

To this point, I was encouraged to hear some of our agriculture stakeholders’ comments surrounding these important investments. For example, Peggy, president of the OFA—many in this place know her—and these are her comments: “Limited veterinary capacity leaves people, animals and ultimately our food system at risk and this multi-faceted approach will help maintain healthy, safe and sustainable food protection.”

Speaker, another quote which I found encouraging: Jack Chaffe, Beef Farmers of Ontario, president and also a constituent of mine, “The commitments included in the 2023 Ontario budget to improve access to veterinarian education and service capacity come as welcomed news to BFO and Ontario beef farmers, particularly those in underserviced regions of the province.”

Speaker, by engaging the University of Guelph with this initiative, our government is expanding our partnerships with an institution already well recognized around the world. In my community and communities across Ontario, the Ontario Agricultural College at the University of Guelph is a recognized and trusted source of capable workers for the agricultural sector, and I can tell you our communities are so happy to see further investment in this industry.

At the same time, Speaker, our government is looking out for our farmers and farm families that work on the front lines, feeding our communities and protecting our food safety and security. We’re especially aware of the evolving role advanced technologies play in large- and small-scale agricultural operations.

We owe it to our family operators, those who choose to invest in Ontario’s agriculture sector to ensure we have reliable, high-speed Internet across the province, including in rural communities such as mine in southwestern Ontario. That’s why our government is taking concrete action through an investment of nearly $4 billion to ensure every community—urban, rural and remote—has access to high-speed Internet by the end of 2025. Just to frame this closer to my home in my riding: The residents of southwestern Ontario can expect to see more than $63 million invested through our government going directly to support more homes, businesses and farms across our region through the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology, or SWIFT, initiative.

Speaker, for those who already live here and for those who dream of starting a life here, our plan is to build a strong Ontario that shows our government is taking the right actions at the right time.

Having said that, let’s pass this budget. Let’s build a brighter future for a strong Ontario for our grandparents, parents, my generation and for generations to come in Ontario. Let’s get it done.