It’s lovely to rise this to rise this evening to address my colleague from London North Centre’s question. It’s also lovely to be able to address a question on housing in this House. Serving as PA to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, who is also the government House leader, means I don’t have a lot of opportunities to do that—which is fine.

The member opposite mentioned the attainable housing in the bill he referred to. I also have access to Hansard, and I looked up, colleagues, before coming to this place how many times the member opposite has mentioned “attainable housing.” He mentioned it once, on February 22, 2024. Someone who claims to be so worried about attainable housing mentioned it once in this place, Speaker.

Interjection: Once.

Speaker, this member is part of a party that nominated someone in one of the fastest-growing communities in this country to stop development. We’re not going to do that. We’re going to continue to get shovels in the ground and ensure that we continue to build homes across Ontario, but especially in our transit corridors—of which downtown Kitchener is one. We’re going to continue to get homes built.

This member opposite’s colleague who ran in the Kitchener by-election voted against a 1,174-unit development in downtown Kitchener. She opposed a 10-storey, 132-unit condo development, and she voted against 532 residential units in downtown Kitchener. That is not all, Speaker: She also voted against a 238-unit development in downtown Kitchener.

I could continue, but I also want to address the fact that the member for Ottawa South is here this evening, and they just elected a new leader, one of the biggest NIMBYs in all of Ontario, where we actually saw people leave the city she was the mayor of. It shrank, when every other city in this province grew.

Interjection.

I can only hope that the new Liberal leader will see the error of her ways, but I’m not going to hold my breath. She called, for example, a 17-storey unit, 148 units in total, “way too much density.” This was in 2022 that the Liberal leader said this. She has commented saying we don’t want a “wall of condos,” and she called a proposed 12-storey, 195-unit development an “abomination.”

Interjection.

It’s wonderful to be here this afternoon with all of you to speak on another very important piece of legislation. I’m pleased to share the government’s time today, as the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and speak to the Planning Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023. I’d like to spend some of my time discussing how this proposed legislation will better support our municipal partners in advancing local planning priorities while helping us address the province’s housing supply crisis.

Speaker, as all members of this House know, one of our most valued relationships is with our partners at the municipal level. They are and will continue to be an integral part of our efforts to build at least 1.5 million homes by 2031. As I’ve said in this House before, the province is on the right path to building more housing, but our municipal partners need our support, and they need us to take some additional steps.

Since being appointed to the ministry, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Associate Minister of Housing and I have been working very closely and meeting with colleagues at different levels of government to find ways to build housing even faster. We’ve been asking our municipal partners what they need to do to ensure we are maximizing opportunities to get shovels in the ground.

One of the ways is through municipal official plans. As you may know, Speaker, official plans set out where offices and shops can be located; where industry and development can thrive; where parks and schools should be located; where infrastructure like roads, water mains and sewers will be needed; and of particular interest to us today, where new housing can be built.

Official plans can help implement the provincial planning statement. This statement sets out the province’s priorities for land use planning, including direction that municipalities must follow when making decisions under the Planning Act for community development and growth. Land use planning helps set the goals for the community while keeping economic, social and environmental factors in mind. Planning helps balance the interests of property owners with the interests of the community as a whole, and municipalities work to reflect the interests of their communities in their official plans.

The official plan process is complex and nuanced and requires balance—a balancing act between long-range and big-picture planning, between long-term infrastructure goals and short-term development pressures and between opposing land uses that need to be managed so they can successfully co-exist. All of this and more brings us to why we are here today.

Our government recognizes that municipalities are in the best position to understand the unique needs and the concerns of their communities. Our proposed legislation would wind back provincial changes to the official plans and the official plan amendments made by the ministry in November 2022 and April 2023, except where these are needed to align with legislation or regulations such as the protections for the greenbelt.

Speaker, it’s my privilege to talk about these exceptions. The provincial modifications we wish to keep were made to protect the greenbelt or protect public health and safety. We also want to retain the modifications that bring official plan boundaries into conformity with existing provincial legislation and regulations.

Let’s look at the modifications we’ve made to ensure municipally approved official plans reflect the policies and mapping supporting the greenbelt. In some cases, the municipality-adopted urban boundary in the official plan may have encroached into the greenbelt when this type of urban expansion doesn’t align with the greenbelt plan. As you are aware, Speaker, we also have before the House—which we also passed recently—legislation to enhance greenbelt protections. We work through the official plans to identify and then address inconsistencies within the greenbelt, and these are some of the modifications we’re proposing to retain in the official plans of the city of Hamilton, the county of Wellington and the regions of Niagara, Peel and York.

Another set of modifications we propose to keep relates to Indigenous communities and their interests. These modifications would strengthen the approach municipalities take in working with Indigenous communities. They would also help to ensure that obligations are met; for example, ensuring that where a marked or unmarked cemetery or burial place is found, Indigenous communities with a known interest in the area are notified. To align with Indigenous interests, we are proposing to keep these provincial changes in the municipally approved official plans for the cities of Hamilton, Belleville and the county of Wellington.

Another set of modifications we propose to maintain relate to incompatible and sensitive land uses. A stark example of an incompatible land use would be a heavy industry facility next to a long-term-care home. In that example, an official plan would need to reconsider not only the long-term-care home but also the industrial plant. The plant, which might be a major employer and a significant contributor to the community’s prosperity, would likely find its operations hampered because of its proximity to a long-term-care home. And the residents of a long-term-care home would find their quality of life negatively affected by the plant.

These examples show us where official plans have an important role to play, in this case, to ensure that land is used in a way that works for everyone. To this end, the provincial modifications would have added language to some official plans to clarify that the municipality would need to follow provincial guidelines so that we don’t end up with long-term-care homes next to heavy industry, to continue with that example, and if it proves impossible, the official plan includes language to ensure measures are taken to mitigate any potential adverse effects.

To align with these sensitive land uses, we are proposing to keep these types of modifications to the municipally approved plans of the cities of Hamilton, Peterborough, the regions of North York and Niagara.

As we’ve seen that provincial modifications were made to address health and safety as it pertains to sensitive land uses, other modifications were made to address safe drinking water. Municipally approved official plans must include provisions for wellhead protection areas, and this requirement is in alignment with the Clean Water Act.

Many municipalities across Ontario rely on wells to supply safe drinking water to their residents, and we must guard against the risk of pollutants seeping into the ground and contaminating well water. That’s the purpose of wellhead protection areas. These are the areas around a well where landowners and the municipality must manage any activities that could become sources of contamination, and these wellhead protection areas must be identified in official plans. To that end, we’re proposing to keep modifications like this to the municipally approved official plans of the cities of Barrie, Belleville, Peterborough and the regions of Peel and York.

Recognizing the province’s investments in infrastructure and the need to plan and protect for new infrastructure corridors, we are maintaining a set of modifications related to infrastructure and planned corridors. These corridors are reserved for large linear infrastructure projects such as new highways or hydro transmission lines. Once potential future corridors are identified by the province, they need to be included in official plans. As a result, we’re proposing to keep modifications that protect the Highway 413 corridor and the northwest GTA transmission corridor. These affect the official plans of Halton and Peel regions.

As I have said, reversing the provincial official plan decisions that were made would better reflect the local priorities and support the needs of local communities, needs and priorities that are consistently evolving, which means that the plans that shape them must evolve as well.

We recognize that in some cases the province may have modified and approved an official plan more than a year ago. And a lot can happen in that time. Plans might need to be adjusted to account for local priorities and planning for 2051 and potentially to support our province-wide target of building at least 1.5 million new homes by 2031, and that is why we’re also looking for feedback on potential changes that were originally made by the province that the municipality would like to keep.

We’re also interested in what projects might already be under way, and we have given impacted municipalities until Dec 7, 2023, to provide these updates to the official plans. Municipal staff can also reach out to the staff from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to provide additional information.

Speaker, I should also add, the immunity provisions in the legislation would apply not just to the provincial government but also to our municipal partners. These strengthened immunity provisions will mitigate any legal risk that may arise as a result of this legislation.

As the Associate Minister of Housing has said earlier this afternoon, the proposed bill has generally been well received by the impacted communities. By focusing on items that we all agree on, we’re able to leverage the municipal official plans to help meet our shared priorities. This collaboration will address changes to accommodate circumstances or projects that are already under way or to maintain changes that the province made.

Speaker, we must not lose sight of the impetus for our proposed legislation. Ultimately, we want more homes in Ontario—a lot more homes—and not just homes in downtown Toronto but homes across communities in Ontario, whether it’s in my riding of Perth–Wellington or in the riding of Ajax or in Ottawa. We want to achieve our goal of building at least 1.5 million new homes by 2031 by supporting our municipal partners. And this is not just an aspiration; this is a practical objective we’re already delivering results on.

Over the past three years, housing starts have been robust and, despite a recent slowdown, this has continued well into 2023. From January to October of this year—the latest figures that are available—Ontario saw almost 75,000 housing starts. That’s essentially unchanged when compared to the same period in 2022. And for rental accommodations, 2023 saw an increase in rental starts of almost 41% compared to the same period in 2022. In 2022, Ontario saw nearly 15,000 rental starts, which was an all-time high. And I’m pleased to report that in 2023 we had already surpassed that figure at the end of October of this year.

Speaker, as I’ve said, all levels of government need to work together to address the housing crisis. Our proposed Planning Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023, is another way that we are collaborating and engaging with municipal partners to support their communities as they develop and grow. We are committed to increasing the housing supply in Ontario. Our call to action is to get shovels in the ground across this province, from Windsor to Mississauga to Kingston, Speaker. We need all hands on deck, but we need to move forward in a way that is reasonable, responsible and strikes the optimal balance between local interests and provincial priorities.

I know when the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing came into his role, he reached out to our municipal partners on the housing task force recommendations. Our government has already implemented full or partial recommendations—23 of the 74—and we continue to work on those that are remaining with our municipal partners. I know my local municipalities appreciate the opportunity to provide that feedback, to share with the minister what they believe could be the next steps in our housing supply action plan, which I know the minister has mentioned is coming in the new year—something to look forward to in 2024.

As we continue to move forward, to get more homes built across our province, Speaker, it is about ensuring that the dream of home ownership is there for the next generation and for future generations that come to Ontario—no matter where they come from, whether it’s another province or another country in the world. We will ensure that our communities remain vibrant places to live, work and raise a family. This is why I urge all members of this House to support this bill.

It’s my pleasure to share the government’s remaining time on the lead today, as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and to speak to Bill 134, the Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act. I want to thank the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for providing a concise overview of the bill this morning—and his relationship with his daughter.

I also want to thank the Associate Minister of Housing for the detailed explanation of how this proposed legislation would support our government’s efforts to lower the cost of building, purchasing and renting affordable homes across the province.

Updating the definition of affordable residential units that would qualify for municipal development charge discounts and exemptions will truly help in that regard. And I know, as the minister and the associate minister mentioned in their remarks, there has been a lot of support from our municipal colleagues, whether that’s AMO, ROMA or the big city mayors around this proposed definition. I know, in speaking with some of my own local mayors in my riding of Perth–Wellington, they have told me that with this definition of affordable housing and a further bulletin—which would be coming after this bill, if it’s passed—it would help get affordable homes built in some of my own communities in rural Ontario, and ensuring that those discounts are available for them. Some home builders have already approached my local mayors and local councils around how they could work together to achieve this. It’s wonderful to see this progress already being encouraged in rural Ontario, and in my riding of Perth–Wellington in particular.

The Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act, if passed, would also support our municipalities as they work to attract and create jobs. The proposed changes are meant to make it easier for communities to build the housing that Ontarians desperately need. This includes more affordable homes.

What I would also like to underline—and I think it’s a key moment in time to do so—is that it would complement other measures our government has put in place to help increase housing supply across the province. As my colleagues the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Associate Minister of Housing have already spoken about this morning, the proposed measures demonstrate our government’s strong commitment to working alongside our municipal partners. We’re committed to making life more affordable and better for everyone in Ontario, no matter where you live, whether that is in downtown Toronto or up in Kenora and Thunder Bay, Speaker, and supporting our municipalities with the tools needed to help get at least 1.5-million new homes built by 2031.

Speaker, we need to get shovels in the ground faster and to start building homes today for the workers of tomorrow. In March of this year, the city of St. Thomas welcomed the new Volkswagen plant. Europe’s largest automaker will establish its subsidiary PowerCo SE’s electric-vehicle-battery-manufacturing facility in their community of St. Thomas. Selecting St. Thomas as the location to build the company’s first overseas battery cell plant is a major vote of confidence in Canada and Ontario. It’s a vote of confidence in our shared work to position the country and the province as a global leader on the electric vehicle supply chain. It’s a testament to Ontario’s competitive environment, and we are an attractive investment destination with everything a company needs to grow and prosper.

The investment has been welcome news by local business leaders in St. Thomas but also surrounding communities—which my riding would include—in Stratford and St. Marys, Listowel and others as well, I know, from my colleagues in this place. It’s a positive impact for our business community, a positive impact for our communities at large. It’s going to attract thousands of good-paying jobs and ensure that we continue to build Ontario for the future. The Volkswagen Group and PowerCo SE’s historic investment to build this facility here will bring thousands of good-paying jobs and even more families to beautiful St. Thomas and beautiful Stratford and, really, all the communities of southern Ontario.

The manufacturing facility will be the largest of its kind in Canada, and it has the potential to be one of the largest electric vehicle battery plants in the world—in the entire world. Potentially, St. Thomas, Ontario, is going to have the largest electric-vehicle-battery plant here. This plant will have six production lines and make enough batteries for one million cars every year. What’s more, Volkswagen Group has plans to make 25 new electric vehicle models in the coming decades, and most of those batteries will come from St. Thomas. The plant is expected to employ up to 3,000 people and create thousands of spin-off jobs, as I’ve mentioned, across southwestern Ontario, helping support economic growth and prosperity for future generations. It’s estimated that it could be worth as much as $200 billion to the Canadian economy over the coming decades.

This investment represents the largest auto investment in our province’s history, and it’s a big win for Ontario, the people of St. Thomas and surrounding areas. This is an example of how our government continues to work to create the right conditions for businesses and workers to succeed now and in the future. We’re revitalizing Ontario’s auto sector and making Ontario the auto powerhouse of North America once again. The cars of the future will be made here in Ontario, from start to finish, from the minerals in northern Ontario to the battery cells in St. Thomas to the batteries in Windsor and much more I’m sure to come. They’ll be made—also very importantly—by Ontario workers. We recognize that this investment in St. Thomas will significantly strengthen the local community and, obviously, our provincial economy.

Through the Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act, Ontario is proposing changes to help support Volkswagen Group and PowerCo SE’s historic investment in St. Thomas. The agreement that was negotiated in partnership with the city of St. Thomas provides for the city to give municipal-based incentives as part of PowerCo SE’s project. However, the current rules against municipalities providing municipal-based incentives to any industrial or commercial enterprise limit the city of St. Thomas from providing some of the assistance outlined in the agreement.

The changes we are proposing would give the city of St. Thomas the authority to provide PowerCo SE municipal-based incentives that were negotiated in partnership with the municipality. The new authority would be restricted to St. Thomas only. The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing would be provided with regulation-making authority to impose restrictions, limits and other conditions on St. Thomas’s new authority. In addition, the province consulted on this proposed change through a public posting on the regulatory registry of Ontario for a 30-day period.

Creating and supporting more shovel-ready mega sites, like St. Thomas, will help Ontario remain competitive as the province competes for major global investments.

These proposed changes represent our government’s efforts to attract new investments that will create more good-paying jobs and strengthen our economy.

Speaker, Ontario is a top-tier destination for investment and strategic business growth. Our government is committed to supporting and growing the province’s workforce. Ontario is ready to help with the creation of good-paying jobs in our municipalities that will help rebuild our economy, after 15 years of Liberal and NDP coalition. And we’re taking concrete action to attract jobs and investment.

The proposed changes in the Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act are meant to further support municipalities as they work to attract and create jobs. A critical factor for securing new investment opportunities is having suitable industrial sites ready for companies to build on.

Similar to, as we are finding in municipal affairs and housing, and as the minister mentioned this morning, around infrastructure and waste water, it is having these sites ready, whether it is for homes or also, very importantly, for industrial companies that are looking to come to Ontario, to our attractive business environment, and to benefit from where we are physically located in the world—but also the great employees we train and retain in Ontario.

In November 2019, Ontario launched the Job Site Challenge to create an inventory of investment-ready mega sites. It was designed to attract large-scale advanced manufacturing investments that have the potential to create hundreds of new jobs across the province, in communities, whether they’re large or small. As part of this initiative, municipalities, economic development agencies and industrial property owners put forward large tracts of land of between 500 and 1,500 acres that could support large-scale manufacturing operations. One of the mega sites identified as part of the initiative involved 1,500 acres of land within the city of St. Thomas and the municipality of Central Elgin. However, with the land divided between two municipalities with different permitting requirements, we recognized that potential investors could face red tape and delays from unnecessary duplication. That’s why our government took decisive action and introduced legislation to adjust the municipal boundaries so the site resides fully in the city of St. Thomas. The site was then selected by Volkswagen Group and PowerCo SE as the location to build the electric vehicle battery cell manufacturing facility we are speaking about today. This is an example of a successful collaboration across governments—provincial, municipal and federal. It represents a collaboration to cut red tape and ensure the benefits of economic growth are enjoyed across the province, helping to speed up construction timelines and ensure there is truly a shovel-ready site for potential investment.

Speaker, as we continue to work to attract investment, build Ontario up and strengthen our economy, we’ll continue to attract more workers to Ontario. And we must ensure that all of our communities have the housing needed to support a strong workforce.

Our government also recognizes the growth demands being placed on large and fast-growing municipalities in Ontario. For example, the greater Toronto area is expected to grow by 2.9 million people by 2046. This means that within the next 23 years, we will need homes to accommodate an additional 2.9 million people. For my colleagues here this morning, for reference, when I graduated high school, which wasn’t that long ago, the province was roughly 12 million people. We are now 15 million people. Within that short amount of time, we have grown by three million people, which means obviously we need more homes.

But it’s not just housing; it’s an economic problem that can affect the entire province and even the entire country. The GTA is just one part of the greater Golden Horseshoe, which is the economic engine of Ontario. It generates more than 25% of Canada’s gross domestic product, but in order to tackle this crisis, Ontario requires workers, and workers require a place to live.

Speaker, the greater Golden Horseshoe is just one example. There are plenty of examples. Whether they’re from Windsor, London, Stratford, Kingston, Ottawa, Thunder Bay, our government works to support municipalities and helps make it easier to attract and create more jobs all across the province. The need for more housing will continue to grow, and it’s critical that we get shovels in the ground today to start building homes for the workers of tomorrow.

Our government’s housing supply action plans have made great progress in addressing our province’s housing crisis so far, but there’s still more to be done. As the minister mentioned earlier, and the associate minister, we had our housing forum yesterday, and it was wonderful to see, as the associate minister mentioned yesterday, the cross-pollination between the variety of stakeholders there, whether it was municipal partners; whether it was the non-profit, Habitat for Humanity; whether it was homebuilders. It was good to see those ideas and work with our colleagues, as I know the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing will continue to do as we move forward with future housing supply action plans.

The changes and measures proposed through the Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act are forward-thinking, and I’m proud in part of this government that is taking historic action to increase housing supply and help communities meet their housing needs today and well into the future.

To complement the legislative proposals in the Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act, our government will also be consulting on other changes that can be made to help get more affordable homes built in Ontario and increase municipal efficiencies. We’re committed to working closely with our municipal partners to ensure the right tools and processes are in place so that we’re able to build at least 1.5 million new homes by 2031.

Our government will be consulting on proposed regulatory changes as part of the ongoing strategy to streamline hearings and speed up decisions at the Ontario Land Tribunal. Helping to resolve land use planning disputes faster will help municipalities to be able to build priority projects faster, including housing. Supply Ontario will also be engaging and working with municipalities to look at ways to increase procurement collaboration with municipalities to allow cost savings and efficiencies by both levels of government.

Speaker, I know it was announced earlier this year that our province will be freezing fees for building homes and other related infrastructure at 2023 levels and ensuring that we are also doing our part to ensure that we keep costs down for our homebuilders and our municipalities as they help us reach that goal of 1.5 million homes.

To support building more homes, our government will also be asking for feedback on proposed regulatory changes aimed at streamlining hearings and expediting decisions at the Ontario Land Tribunal. The Ontario Land Tribunal, or, as it’s commonly known, the OLT, is an independent adjudicative tribunal and an important piece of the municipal planning and housing framework here in Ontario. When people are unable to resolve their differences on land use planning issues or having disputes with their municipal council that can’t be settled, the OLT provides a forum to resolve those disputes. Improving the processes at the OLT and helping to resolve land use disputes faster will help minimize delays and help us get priority projects built faster for communities across the province, and this obviously includes homes.

Too many people in Ontario are struggling to find an affordable home, and this proposal supports our government’s efforts to provide more certainty for municipalities and make it cheaper and easier to build affordable homes across the province.

To further streamline hearings and speed up decisions at the OLT, Ontario is consulting on and developing proposed regulations to set service standards and to prioritize resolutions of certain cases, including cases that would create the most housing. Consultations will begin in early December. This contributes to the broader goal of supporting strong, healthy communities and the public interest.

It also expands on the important work that is already under way to improve processes. Ontario has made investments to help the OLT to streamline processes, improve customer service and resolve land use planning disputes more quickly. Some of these investments were made to address a key recommendation in the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force report to increase resources at the OLT so that homes can be built faster. We know that principled and timely resolutions play an important role in the province’s housing supply. We will not let red tape and long wait times delay critical projects in our communities, including much-needed housing.

We will also be engaging and working with municipalities to ensure that they can benefit from provincial supply chain programs and strategies led by Supply Ontario. This includes having access to category management and vendor-of-record arrangements, which combine Ontario’s purchasing power to obtain better value for procurements. Supply Ontario is a crown agency supporting procurement across the Ontario public service and the broader public sector. It works to bring cohesion to the public sector supply chain by embracing innovation and leveraging diverse partnerships and relationships with suppliers. This can help harness Ontario’s buying power to enable economic development, province-wide resilience and, most importantly, value for Ontarians.

Speaker, the proposed changes in the Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act are what our province needs as we take the next steps to address our housing supply crisis and ensure our communities are set up to meet future housing demand. Our proposed measures will help support building more affordable homes in Ontario while also supporting municipalities as they work to attract and create good jobs.

Yesterday, at our housing forum, one common theme emerged, which is great to see from our government. All the stakeholders in the room agreed that we need to get more homes built in Ontario, including across the continuum, whether that’s support for homelessness prevention; whether that’s affordable homes, as we’re talking about this morning; whether that’s attainable and also, obviously, townhomes and apartments. It’s wonderful to see this collaboration amongst a variety of stakeholders across Ontario to ensure that Ontario remains a great place to live, work and raise a family.

With that, Speaker, thank you.

Thank you to the member for the question.

As I alluded to in my remarks, we’re establishing a transition board to work with, including the region of Peel, the four municipalities involved.

With Bill 23, I talked to many municipal colleagues in my riding—I believe it is 72, all told, in my riding of Perth–Wellington, and they always appreciate the open-door policy I have with them, working with them. When Bill 23 came before this place—they all understand that we need more housing, and that includes in rural Ontario and the region of Peel, which this piece of legislation helps to achieve, among many other things. They all know that this government will continue to work with them to get more housing built and to continue to support them where they need to be supported, whether that’s through infrastructure funding to get those—