I want to thank my colleague for the question. Speaker, I want to be very clear: We expect everyone to uphold public health and property standards, especially when it comes to housing the most vulnerable in our communities. All landlords and housing providers have a legal responsibility to provide safe and habitable homes to their tenants. That’s the law.

We’re tackling the issue from both sides. My colleague the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing is creating more opportunities for at-risk people to receive the critical supports they need, and our government has made two of the largest increases to ODSP programs in the program’s history, putting more money into ODSP recipients.

This year, we’re investing $2.1 billion to fund accommodation that meets the needs of adults with developmental disabilities. That’s an increase of nearly half a billion dollars since 2018, when we formed government. Mr. Speaker—

We will stop at nothing to hold those accountable who do not protect the people of this province, especially our most vulnerable. The only problem is, every single initiative that we put forward to provide supports for the people of Ontario the opposition votes against. They’ll come here and ask for things, but when we put bills forward that support Ontarians, especially our most vulnerable, the NDP constantly—

I just want to correct my record from earlier. In response to my honourable colleague from Thunder Bay–Superior North, I indicated that there was an increase of $2.2 million in supportive housing—in fact, it’s $202 million of increase. Thank you very much—

Interjections.

I thank my honourable colleague for the question again.

I wanted to mention that we’re also backing that strategy up with real investments, with funding over $2.9 billion in developmental services, including more than $1.8 billion for residential supports.

Mr. Speaker, thanks to the great work of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and thanks to the Minister of Finance, you saw that, in the budget, $2.2 million will be invested for supportive housing. The minister has said many, many, many times that we are in a housing supply crisis in the province of Ontario—one that affects every single person, one that we’re trying to address, one that the opposition continuously votes against, doesn’t seem to understand. So in order to get housing right for everybody, we need to address the supply crisis that we’re in, and I thank the minister for his leadership on that.

Thank you very much for the question.

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear once again: There has not been a government in this province for the past 70 years that has provided more protections for tenants than this government has. We protected tenants through Bill 184; we put in various measures to protect tenants. Unfortunately, the opposition voted against every single one of those measures. The rent increase guideline that’s currently set at 2.5%—we maxed it at 2.5%, well below inflation; it would have been over 5% if we hadn’t taken action. Last year, we capped it at 2.1%.

We have continuously said that we are in a housing supply crisis in this province and it affects everyone. The opposition doesn’t seem to understand that. We need to increase supply so that everyone in Ontario has a home that meets their needs and their budgets. They may not care for it. We will, and we will—

Mr. Speaker, last year, in 2022, we had a record number of purpose-built rentals in this province; the year before that, once again, a record number of housing starts—not only just overall, but also for purpose-built rentals.

When it comes to protection for tenants, let me be clear once again: Bill 184—that member was here when we introduced it. It was this member here that put in protection for tenants across the board in this province. What did the opposition do? Vote against it. That’s the same thing for opposition—they’ll continue to talk about one thing, but when it comes to voting, they will vote against it. They’re for housing until we introduce it, and they will vote against it. They’re for protection—they will talk about it—but when it comes to actually putting their name behind it, they will vote against it. That’s not on this side of the House—

Interjections.

I thank my honourable colleague for the very important question.

What we did is, we brought three older legacy programs and combined them into a new program, the Homelessness Prevention Program, to streamline the process so that service managers spend less time on paperwork and more on helping the people of Ontario who need support. We also increased the funding of this program by $25 million annually across the province.

Mr. Speaker, on our side, we’ve been very clear: We’ve said that we are in a housing supply crisis in our province and it hurts our most vulnerable. It hurts everyone across the board. We’re working towards solutions to make sure that we increase the supply across the province.

It’s only the opposition that continuously opposes housing in this province—well, it depends on what time at question period. They’re for housing at some points during question period and—

I want to thank my honourable colleague from Mississauga–Erin Mills for the question and also for the great work he does on behalf of his constituents every single day.

A few months ago, I toured Z Modular, which is a factory in Kitchener, Ontario, that pre-builds modular housing units right here in our province. They manufacture shipping-container-style boxes which you can customize or stack to build modular homes. You can pick the layout and materials you want included and have it delivered to your property with 90% of the project completed off-site, which results in 50% faster project completion.

Thanks to the member from Hastings–Lennox and Addington, I also had the opportunity to meet with GPS 3D Modular, which uses a green precast concrete modular system to build up to 10 storeys high. These are innovative solutions; these are the ones that are going to help us get out of the supply of the housing—

While on tour at the Z Modular facility, they explained to me how they not only create detached housing, but they can also scale up projects to create buildings for residential use. They are currently working on projects in Lucan, Ontario; St. Clair College; and Port Elgin. And they’re working on affordable housing projects all over the province.

Z Modular and GPS 3D Modular are using modern technology and manufacturing processes similar to what the Ford Motor Company did in the early 1900s to make it more affordable to purchase a vehicle, but now to make it more affordable to buy homes. These are great solutions that will help us alleviate some of our housing crisis issues. I hope the opposition supports us as we go forward, as we try to tackle the housing—

Applause.

I thank my honourable colleague for the very important question. She’s absolutely right. We are working very hard to make sure that there are more homes available across the entire province, which is why if you look at our record the last couple of years, we had a number of housing starts that we haven’t had since 1987. And we’re not going to stop there, Mr. Speaker. We’re going to continue to go forward. Why? Because of the jobs that we’re creating for the people of this province. We don’t want to be second to any jurisdiction. We have the best and brightest living right here in this province. We think we’re number one in everything. We’ll make sure we have the houses for the jobs that are coming to this province, thanks to the help of this minister and our Premier. Rest assured, we’ll make sure that we’ll even break the records of previous years. We’ll get to our 1.5 million homes so we don’t let your constituents down.

Interjections.

Interjections.

Interjections.

Interjections.

Interjections.

I want to thank my honourable colleague from Burlington for the question and all the great work that she does in her riding.

Mr. Speaker, our legislation was clear: The More Homes Built Faster Act was intended to build on previous housing bills to further cut red tape and remove unnecessary barriers that were preventing the construction of new units in Ontario.

One key approach that we’re taking is by encouraging density around major transit areas, which will make it easier for Ontarians to take a bus, train or streetcar to and from work, and visit family and friends.

We want Ontarians to have the flexibility when it comes to housing: one that they can afford and one that meets their needs and their budgets. The only way that we can do this is by increasing supply in the areas that make sense, like major transit corridors, which is exactly what our government is doing.

I want to thank the member from Burlington for her strong advocacy when it comes to housing on behalf of her constituents.

Study after study is telling us that we are in a housing deficit, but we’re ensuring that more supply is created—of all types—to make sure that home ownership is within reach for more Ontarians; for example, the attainable housing program through the government surplus lands, exploring rent-to-own options and land lease communities.

To make housing more affordable and easier to enter the housing market for Ontarians, our government is increasing the term period for homes located in land lease communities from 21 years to 49 years, which, by extending it over time, will make homes more affordable. In fact, I saw first-hand the life-lease community of Sandycove in the great member’s riding of Barrie-Innisfil.

We know more work is needed, and we’ll continue to explore more options to make it easier for first-time homebuyers, seniors, young families and future generations to find a place to call home in our province.

I thank the leader of the official opposition for the question. Mr. Speaker, I would like to see one day the leader or the members of the opposition get up and actually stand up for Ontarians and support us in building more homes across the province.

We should be looking at our numbers. In 2021, in 2022, a record number of housing starts in our province—no thanks to the opposition. I mentioned this last week, when the previous government was in power, they held the balance of power. The lowest housing starts came in the three years when they had the opportunity. They could have made housing a priority for Ontarians. They didn’t. It took this Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, under the leadership of the Premier, the caucus members on this side and in the middle to say, “No more. Housing is going to be a priority for Ontarians. We’ll make sure to deliver it to them. We’re not going to let down anybody.”

As I said before, and I’ll say it again, no government in the past 70 years has provided more protection for tenants in this province than this government.

We paused rent increases during COVID. We made sure that tenants had protection when they needed it. The rent increase guidelines that the member is referring to in 2021 last year was capped at 1.2% increase. This year, because of our actions, we capped that at 2.5%, well below inflation. If it wasn’t for our actions, the rent increase guideline would have been at 5.3%.

So let me make that very clear: Once again, it’s this government that will stand up for the people of this province, will protect tenants and make sure—what the opposition wants is for people to be pitted against one another. That’s not going to happen. We’re going to work with our partners to make sure that we have more units in this province, and we’ll continue—

I thank my honourable colleague for the question.

We’re in a housing supply crisis all over the province, including in the member’s riding, and I’m glad that he’s raising this concern—because we’re the only party that has been talking about it.

If you go back—and I’ll just tell you, Mr. Speaker, the housing crisis that we’re in, the supply crisis that we’re dealing with right now, the Minister of Finance addressed this by making sure that the percentage that has been added, the 25%, is across the province, not just a portion, to make sure that there’s more supply in the province of Ontario for Ontarians.

But we need to do more. If you look at the work of the municipal affairs and housing, this minister—the last two years, we’ve seen record housing starts in the province of Ontario. Do a comparison to when the previous government was in power and they held the balance of power—the lowest housing starts. It’s not enough. We need to build more homes all across the province, including in that member’s riding, and we’re going to get it done.

We’ve done that. We’re not going to stop there. We’re going to continue going forward. As I mentioned, we’re in a housing supply crisis.

I’m glad the city of London adopted the targets that the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing put forward, because they know these are attainable targets.

When it comes to rent control—I have to tell you this, Mr. Speaker. Through Bill 184, when we put in measures, the measures that this government has put in place—no government in the past 70 years has provided more protection for tenants than this government. Every single protection that we put in Bill 184 for tenants—guess what the opposition did? They voted against it.

Only one party—

Interjections.

Again, I want to thank my honourable colleague for the question. In addition to the record purpose-built rental starts that we had last year, our latest piece of legislation, More Homes Built Faster Act, offers incentives for the construction of more rental units by reducing development fees: 25% on three-or-more-bedroom units, a 20% discount on two-bedroom units and a 15% discount on one-bedroom units.

To further increase rental supply, we also introduced as-of-right policies in our most recent bill to allow for more units to be constructed on existing residential lots. Other legislation allows for basement apartments, garden houses or main residences to have up to three rental units without obtaining additional building permits or paying any additional development fees.

Ontarians deserve to have affordable options when it comes to housing, and as we’ve said before, we’re going to continue fighting for every Ontarian to make sure they do in this province.

I want to thank my honourable colleague from Eglinton–Lawrence not only for the question but for the great work that she does on behalf of her constituents.

Speaker, I actually had the opportunity and the pleasure to speak at the event that the member is referring to. In my remarks, I emphasized just how important it is for us to continue building on our collective effort to increase housing supply.

Increasing supply is a big part of the solution to the housing crisis, and our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, alongside the municipal affairs and housing minister and the parliamentary assistant, will continue to introduce policies that will get more shovels in the ground, for us to build homes faster.

I’m proud to say that last year we saw the most purpose-built rentals on record, with just under 15,000 homes. Let that sink in for a second. We set the record for the most purpose-built rentals ever recorded here in the province of Ontario.

So it’s clear our policies are working—

Again, I thank my colleague for the question.

We’ve been very clear: Unlike the previous government, supported by the NDP along the way, we’re not in the business of pitting people against one another. We’re in the business of working in collaboration with everyone to make sure we build homes. Housing is a priority for us.

Mr. Speaker, you don’t have to take my word for it. I’ll read a quote from an accredited economist. Dr. Gillezeau, who, by the way, is the policy adviser to the future leader of the NDP, had this to say in response to comments on Bill 23: “It’s disappointing but not surprising to see municipalities come out so hard against one of the most effective pieces to lower prices in Ontario’s housing legislation.” He said that the changes introduced to development charges under Bill 23 are excellent policy and should have meaningful price effects.

We agree with experts. We need more housing built—

I thank my honourable colleague for the question.

Mr. Speaker, it’s only the NDP that don’t seem to understand that we’re in a housing crisis in the province of Ontario, and we don’t know why they don’t, because Ontarians told us this in the last election; they told us this in the last municipal election. Every single person who was running for office was told that housing is a big issue, but somehow it’s not a big issue to the NDP. In fact, they’ll oppose housing all along the way.

Through the one initiative—the outgoing mayor, the incoming mayor, the current mayor have said, “We need homes.” Over 50,000 homes are going to be created as a result of this one initiative, because of the great work of this Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Once again, we’ll be very clear: As the NDP continue to say no to housing, this side of the House—with the members in the middle, who continue to shrink them on the other side—will continue to fight for Ontarians for housing.

No. No.

I can tell you right now, Mr. Speaker, that’s what the NDP will do—the NDP will come in and will—

Interjections.

You cannot have it both ways. You can’t come in here and talk about housing but vote against it. You can’t say housing is a priority for you but then put no solutions forward. That’s what the NDP will do all along the way.

On this side of the House, we’ve been clear. We said we’re pro-housing. We want to build more homes. We want to make sure we don’t let down the people of this province.

Interjection.

Interjections.

When it comes to the number of people in this province, right now, we are seeing study after study, and we are being told—and we know this already. If you look at the last municipal election, every single candidate who was running for office heard the same thing: Housing is a huge priority for Ontarians.

If my colleagues across had actually listened in the last provincial elections, they wouldn’t be shrinking in the corner across right now. That’s the difference between a party that actually listens to the people and actually finds solutions for the people of this province and parties that don’t. That’s the difference between us and the opposition. We’re looking at bold solutions. We said we were going to take action. We weren’t going to sit on our hands and let this crisis get worse and worse over time—and it will. As I said at the beginning, it is going to get worse. If you don’t do anything about the problem—we found out in the last 15 years—it is going to get worse.

So we have put forward solutions, whether it was the first bill that we put forward—which had many solutions that would not only expedite approval processing times but that provided a lot of protection for tenants as well. You’ve heard my honourable colleagues across talk about protection for tenants. Colleagues, do you think they voted for that bill that actually provided a ton of protection for tenants? No. They voted against that bill.

We know that what we put forward, we know that the great work of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, under the leadership of Premier Ford, and every member of this caucus—we know it’s working.

Through the bills that we have put forward, in 2021, we saw a record number of housing starts in our province, over 100,000 housing starts in our province. Just to put that in perspective again, the last time we had this many housing starts was back in 1987. And it’s important to note that of the 100,000-plus we’re talking about, 13,000 of them were purpose-built rental units. That is so important to talk about. Why is that so important? Because that 13,000 was a record number; the last time we had this many was back in 1991.

Interjections.

So the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing has been clear, the Premier has been clear—every member of this caucus has been clear with Ontarians that, yes, housing is a priority for us.

This is why, through the bills that we’ve put forward, we’ve talked about making units more affordable for Ontarians. Mr. Speaker, a single-family home in the GTA adds a cost of about $116,900 to an average home in the GTA—you tell me if that’s affordable; $100,000 for a condominium in Toronto. Those fees are staggering, which is why more and more people in this province are not able to afford homes. And we’ve already seen that there are municipalities that are talking about further increasing those charges on the people, at a time when life is unaffordable, at a time when we are lowering the cost of living on all fronts. You saw the Minister of Finance, through the fall economic statement, putting measures to reduce the cost of living for Ontarians. At a time when we need to make life more affordable, we cannot look at a major purchase for a family, the largest purchase a family will ever make—you cannot make that more expensive. You have to look at ways to make life more affordable. So that means—looking at the bills that we’ve put forward—discount units, remove fees to make units more affordable for Ontarians.

Mr. Speaker, you have seen leadership under this Premier, you have seen leadership under the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, for four and a half years. I am proud to be part of this government.

My message to every single Ontarian is, I know they let you down, I know they supported them; we won’t. We have your back. You will have the dream of home ownership within reach—

It’s always an honour to rise in this House and represent the wonderful people of Aurora–Oak Ridges–Richmond Hill, who have given me an opportunity to be here and to represent them.

Speaker, before I go any further, I want to thank the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for his relentless work when it comes to solving the housing crisis in the province that we’re facing. Let’s go back to four and a half years ago, when our government was elected. All along the way, it’s this minister, under the leadership of this Premier, who has been talking about the housing crisis in our province. Every single measure that we have put forward, the opposition has voted against. They will come in here and talk about housing; they’ll vote against housing. They will come in here and talk about affordable housing; they will vote against affordable housing. They’ll talk about the need to have more housing; they’ll vote against the supply of housing in the province of Ontario. It doesn’t matter what you put forward—you can clearly see the difference between us.

That’s why, after the last election, the people of Ontario increased the number of seats for this government and gave us a bigger mandate to come back here and solve the crisis that we’re facing because of 15 years of inaction by the previous government. And it’s important to note and it’s important to remind the people of Ontario that it was the NDP that held the balance of power for three of those years. They could have made housing a priority for the people of this province, but did they, colleagues? They didn’t. They let the people of this province down.

Every single time, when you stand in this House and talk about the priority of housing, I want to ask my honourable colleagues, where were you when you had the opportunity? Where was this anger and outrage when you could have held the previous government to account? You could have made them—

Mr. Speaker, my family immigrated here, to this country. You’ve heard the government House leader, with passion, talk about what housing means to a new Canadian when they come in. We come with hopes and aspirations, with dreams. All come here to this country with a dream of having the opportunity, through working hard, to own a home one day. That was my family—all along the way, my parents both worked very hard, and finally, after many, many, many years, they had the opportunity to buy a small home, and as a result, we were then given that opportunity.

The system, the previous government and, by extension, the opposition now have absolutely let down the people of this province—not only now, but future generations. If we don’t do something about it now, imagine what it’s going to be. If you think it’s bad now, think about what it’s going to be like five years and 10 years from now.

That is why we said to Ontarians—we’re transparent with Ontarians. We told them housing is a priority of this government. We talked about it during the campaign, in the last provincial election. We said to Ontarians, “We’re not going to let you down. We’re going to do everything we can. We’re going to work with all levels of government, with partners.” Gone are the days when people are pitted against one another and nothing gets done. Under this government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, we’re going to collaborate with everyone. We’re going to work with local municipalities, we’re going to work with the federal government, we’re going to work with non-profits, we’re going to work with the private sector to build more homes all across the province so that we don’t let any Ontarians down. That is a promise that we made, and of course we’re going to keep it.

Through one initiative that the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing has put forward, we are looking at a minimum of 50,000 homes being added to the province. Of course, we’re going to be looking at that. We’re going to look at any way to increase housing.

Mr. Speaker, there’s a balance. Our strong stance when it comes to protecting the environment—you’ve seen it. We’re the leader in the country. Unlike what the opposition thinks, there’s a balance to everything. You can do more than one thing. And that’s what we’re doing. That’s what the Premier has asked us to do. We have two ministers responsible for housing in this province of Ontario. Why? Because the Premier sees a need. It’s a priority for us to make sure that we get the job done for every single Ontarian in this province.

I do want to talk about one thing: Colleagues, there is a procedure—all of you are familiar; we just got the report back—where, after we debate a bill, this then goes to committee. All along you’ve heard it—during question period, outside of here. Every opportunity that the members of the opposition have gotten, they have criticized this bill. Right? Correct me if I’m wrong. And yet, colleagues, when it came to committee, how many amendments do you think the NDP put forward?

Interjections.

I want to thank my honourable colleague for this very important question and for all the great work she does in her community.

Speaker, I want to point out that Ontario, under this government, is the primary funder of all homelessness programs, with 86% of the funding coming directly from the province. Earlier this year, we developed a new Homelessness Prevention Program to simplify and streamline operations to allow service managers to help more people find a home and spend less time on paperwork. We also increased this program by $25 million this year, bringing the total close to half a billion dollars annually.

Speaker, I recently visited Scott Mission here in Toronto and the Ottawa Mission before heading north to visit Urban Abbey and Grace Place in Thunder Bay to see first-hand the great work that’s being done to support those who are facing housing challenges.

Mr. Speaker, I’ll say it again: We will continue to be there and we will work with all partners to make sure we don’t leave any Ontarian behind.

Speaker, I would like to point out that a few municipalities across our province have opened up warming centres for those who are looking for a place to stay, and we need to continue to work together to be there for all those in need of support. I encourage Ontarians who need more information, or assistance, to dial 311.

Speaker, this government will simply not leave anyone behind. We’ll continue to work with our partners, like the Salvation Army, amongst others, to ensure that every Ontarian has a warm and safe place this winter season.

I want to thank my honourable colleague from Carleton for the question and also for her strong advocacy when it comes to housing on behalf of her constituents.

I was in the member’s city last week, alongside my federal and municipal counterparts, to announce a $90-million housing investment across the city of Ottawa to support the construction of more than 270 units. These units will meet a variety of accessibility and affordability needs, ranging from studios to three-bedroom apartments.

I look forward to continuing our partnership with all levels of government, as well as the non-profit and private sectors, to ensure that all Ontarians, including the most vulnerable in our communities, have a safe place to call home.

To add to my previous answer: The funding will support five projects across the city of Ottawa, including the project that our government is supporting which is located at 159 Forward Avenue. This will be a four-storey building with a total of 49 units, 30 of which will be designated as affordable, and the remaining 19 will have rents that are on par or below average market rent. As I’ve said from day one, we’ll continue to do everything we can to support projects like this one, because they prioritize and support the most vulnerable.

With lack of supply and housing prices out of control for many Ontarians, we’ll continue to work, again, with all partners, all levels of government, to increase supply and support housing in every corner of our province.

I want to thank my colleague for the question. As the Minister of Infrastructure alluded to earlier, we’re looking at every possible scenario to improve housing in the province for the people of Ontario. Through the community renewal strategy, we’ve invested over $4.4 billion over the last three years to make sure that housing is available, and in particular to our most vulnerable.

Through our latest initiative, the bill that passed yesterday, Bill 23, we will have more affordable homes offered to Ontarians. We’re lowering fees for Ontarians so that we can get more housing built.

Unfortunately, over the last few years, we’ve seen both the Liberals and NDP oppose and vote against every single housing bill that we’ve put forward. On this side of the House, we’re for housing, we’re for building homes; on the other side, they oppose housing and they will vote against every single housing bill.

I ask them to change their direction and start supporting housing and support Ontarians in our mission to make sure everyone’s—

Again, I thank my colleague for the question. The short answer is, yes, we are in a housing crisis, so we have to look at existing homes and structures so that we can provide more relief to Ontarians. Ontario is expected to grow by more than two million people by 2031, so all options are on the table that will help us add more existing housing supply.

We are already looking at options by introducing as-of-right zoning. Ontarians are now able to create and rent up to three units in their existing home. This will not only add to our provincial housing supply, but will also help pay for the high interest rates Ontarians and others around the world are forced to pay.

We will continue to look for other solutions that will help us add more homes to the market and help us build 1.5 million homes across the province. As we’ve said time and time again, letting Ontarians down, on this side and in the middle there, is not an option.