It’s my pleasure to rise today to highlight Ontario’s efforts to address the current housing crisis.

In August of last year, our government announced a new, three-year, $1.2-billion program that provides significant funding for municipalities that are on track to meet provincial housing targets by 2031. In order to achieve Ontario’s goal of building 1.5 million homes by 2031, municipalities have agreed to housing targets to assist in meeting the goal. The Building Faster Fund encourages municipalities to meet these housing targets. Municipalities that reach at least 80% of their annual target receive a share of the $1.2-billion program, and for those that exceed their targets, even more funding is granted.

My community of Hamilton will receive over $17.5 million for exceeding its 2023 target and for breaking ground on a total of 4,142 new housing units last year.

I am pleased to recognize the hard work of the city of Hamilton and other communities across the province that have made housing a priority.

Ensuring that every resident has an affordable place to call home is our government’s top priority, and I am hopeful that with the support of these provincial funds, there will be even more housing starts in the year ahead.

Good morning, Mr. Speaker. It’s my pleasure to rise today to highlight an organization in my riding that is a recipient of the Skills Development Fund.

This month, I visited the UBC Millwright Local 1916 training centre in Stoney Creek to tour their new facilities and to hear about how they are using their funding to enhance operations. The training centre, which was originally built in 2015, was extended with two new shops in 2022. This extension allowed the training centre to be successful with their Skills Development Fund stream 2 application.

They received over $400,000, which they used to fund the equipment purchase for their welding shop. With this shop and through the Canadian Welding Bureau, they train and certify members on four different weld processes, as well as carbon arc gouging and torches. Any funding the organization receives leads directly to employment. All their training is industry relevant and will create employability for its members.

I would like to extend a special thank you to UBC Millwright Local 1916 training centre for the tour earlier this month and for all of their hard work throughout the years.