It really is my pleasure to rise in the House today to speak to the third reading of Bill 36, our economic outlook. This is our government’s progress report on our plan to build Ontario. Also, I will be sharing my time today with the member from Brampton East.

Speaker, the people of Ontario re-elected this government because of our plan, returning a PC government to Queen’s Park with an even larger majority than the last Parliament. Ontarians were tired of government inaction. They wanted things to get done—and that’s exactly what this plan proposes.

Building on the 2022 budget, the minister’s plan recognizes that Ontario, like the rest of the world, will continue to face economic challenges in the months ahead. It includes measures to build our economy, address the province’s labour shortage, and keep costs down for families and businesses in my community of Mississauga–Streetsville and right across this province.

Speaker, Ontarians expect their government to invest in infrastructure like highways, bridges, roads and hospitals. Our plan is one of the most ambitious in the province’s history, with $158.8 billion in investments over the next 10 years, including over $20 billion this year alone. Members of my community will benefit from the single largest hospital infrastructure investment that this province is making—building a brand new, state-of-the-art Mississauga Hospital and expanding the Queensway Health Centre. As former vice-chair of the board of directors of the Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga, I know how urgently the community needs additional capacity. The new hospital will be almost triple the size of the existing facility—totalling 2.8 million square feet—and will include over 950 beds with 23 operating rooms, an almost 65% increase in OR space compared to the facility today. That is desperately needed by our community, and this government will deliver.

We’re also building highways. By investing $25.1 billion in highway expansion and rehabilitation over the next 10 years, we’re connecting communities, fighting gridlock, and keeping goods and people moving across this province.

By building Highway 413, we’re supporting the people of Halton, Peel, York and Toronto by relieving the most congested corridor in North America and saving drivers up to 30 minutes on their commute.

We’re also investing in transit. A strong transit system is critical to the economic success of our province. That’s why we’re building projects like the Ontario Line, a 15-stop, 16-kilometre subway line connecting more than 40 other transit lines between the Ontario Science Centre and Ontario Place. And it’s why we’re investing in GO commuter rail, like the London GO service or the Bowmanville extension—part of our transformation of the GO network into a modern, reliable and fully integrated transit network. Cutting down commute times by increasing service with faster trains, more stations and seamless connections will support communities across the greater Golden Horseshoe and beyond.

Speaker, these investments and projects wouldn’t be possible without the hard-working men and women across the province who build them. By investing in skills training and helping businesses attract and retain the best and brightest, Ontario is working for workers to support better jobs and bigger paycheques—a huge thank you to the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development for the amazing, immense work he has done, together with this government, to make these initiatives.

In 2021, we expanded access to the Second Career program to people with limited or non-traditional work experience, including gig workers, newcomers and the self-employed, who need training to get a job. To build on these improvements, we’re relaunching the program as Better Jobs Ontario, to support a much larger, more diverse range of Ontario workers in a rapidly changing workforce. Building on the nearly $200 million invested into the program in the last three years, we’re providing $5 million more in new funding to support the expansion of the program and improve access for even more workers.

Today, employment in Ontario hasn’t just returned to pre-pandemic levels; it has surpassed it, with 207,000 new jobs being created. Even still, there are 350,000 jobs right across this province currently waiting to be filled. With one in five job openings across the province projecting to be in the skilled trades by 2025, the time to invest in the sector is now. Building the sector means encouraging students to pursue careers in the trades, cutting red tape in the system, and encouraging employer participation.

Last year alone, we eliminated the Ontario College of Trades and established Skilled Trades Ontario, a crown agency created to improve trades training and simplify services. While this was a step in the right direction, we know there’s more that needs to be done. That’s why we’re investing an additional $114.4 million over the next three years in our skilled trades strategy. Building the province of tomorrow starts today.

We need to ensure we have the health care staff needed to keep up with the massive capital investments our government is making in the health care system, which is why we’re also building our health care workforce. We’re investing $142 million, starting this fiscal year, to recruit and retain health care workers in underserved communities. This will start with $81 million to expand the Community Commitment Program for Nurses—and it has been such a success. Starting in the spring, we’re launching the new $61-million Ontario Learn and Stay Grant. Up to 2,500 eligible post-secondary students who enrol in priority programs such as nursing will receive upfront funding for tuition, books and other direct educational costs to work in underserved communities in the region where they studied. These programs build on commitments we made during last year’s FES to invest $342 million, adding over 13,000 workers to Ontario’s health care system.

We’re also investing directly in education. A new investment of $42.5 million over the next two years will result in an increase of 160 undergrad seats and 295 postgraduate positions over the next five years. Medical schools across Ontario will benefit from this expansion, including the new University of Toronto Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health, and the Ryerson school of medicine in Brampton—much needed. These investments will help recruit future health care workers and support improved care across our province.

Our government recognizes that families and businesses are facing financial pressures. A higher-cost province is a less competitive province. Workers may choose to leave Ontario if the cost of living is too high.

By extending the reduced rates of the gas and fuel tax, the government is helping all Ontarians save money by putting an extra 5.7 cents per litre for gas and 5.3 cents per litre for fuel into their pockets.

In April, we eliminated road tolls on Highways 412 and 418, saving up to $7.50 per trip on Highway 418 and $3.74 per trip on Highway 412.

By eliminating licence plate renewal fees and stickers, the government is helping save vehicle owners between $60 and $120 a year for each passenger and light commercial vehicle.

We’re helping Ontarians save money on their everyday expenses.

By lowering fuel taxes, it helps with logistics; it helps getting goods to markets much more efficiently.

All families in Canada should have access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care. As part of our plan to build Ontario, we will achieve an average of $10-a-day child care by September 2025, supporting working parents and making life more affordable for families, while also creating more jobs. We also plan to combat increasing demand for child care by creating 86,000 new, high-quality spaces. Licensed child care spaces will include a mix of not-for-profit and for-profit settings to provide families with choice and flexibility.

There’s so much more to talk about, but I’ll wrap up my comments now.

With ongoing economic uncertainty, we’re preserving flexibility to respond to unforeseen events and global economic risks while implementing our plan to build Ontario. We’re supporting future generations by making investments now to build infrastructure, train workers, and keep life more affordable.

Our government is committed to implementing our plan to build our province and our communities, and I hope we can count on the support from all members across this House.

I’ll now turn it over to my colleague for the riding of Brampton East.