Thank you to my colleague for that great question. Yesterday, alongside the Minister of Energy and our PAs, I was pleased to announce our government’s critical investment to support the expansion of the McMaster nuclear reactor, the largest research reactor in Canada.

Speaker, through an investment of $6.8 million, we are helping McMaster University scale up their nuclear reactor’s operations to 24 hours a day, five days a week, to increase the quantity and number of isotopes the reactor produces. What does that mean for Ontario? It means more opportunities for expanded research and development in strategic areas like advanced materials, medical isotopes, clean energy and small modular reactors. And it means countless quality jobs that will support the economy in southern Ontario, all while positioning our province as a leader in the global nuclear medicine market and our researchers’ reputations across the globe.

Speaker, unlike the Liberals who oversaw the fruits of millions of dollars of taxpayer-funded research sold off to the highest foreign bidder, our government will continue to foster Ontario-based research and development.

Canadian clinicians rely on access to nearly two dozen different medical isotopes to treat many different types of medical conditions, including heart disease and cancer. That’s why this work will have such a wide-ranging impact. It’s hard not to have been touched in some way by these conditions.

The medical benefits we hope to see will be unparalleled. The reactor will increase medical isotope production by three times what it is now, ensuring that Ontarians will have earlier access to advanced cancer therapies.

More importantly, Speaker, it will save lives, and it will take us one step closer to improving health outcomes of those impacted by a cancer diagnosis. It is the strong research that Ontario’s post-secondary institutions are conducting that is helping advance—

Thank you, once again, to the member for raising this important issue. Ontario has incredible researcher potential, and we are working to realize this potential through investments in important research organizations like the Ontario Health Data Platform Intellectual Property Committee. Through groups such as this one, we are ensuring that researchers are able to access invaluable de-identified data to support the work of our health care sector.

This government is proud to stand behind investments like this one and will continue to work with all post-secondary institutions and research organizations across the province to ensure we continue to increase Ontario’s research and innovation capabilities to help build health care capacity and create more jobs, opportunity and growth for our economy.

It’s also exciting to look across to the other corner to see the new U of T biomedical research centre. Stay tuned for more.

Thank you to the member from Hastings–Lennox and Addington for that important question. This government understands that investments in college and university hospital research not only strengthens Ontario’s existing innovation and commercialization capacity, but also grows our province’s professional and skilled workforce and positions us as a global leader. Our government is supporting research and innovation that lead to the discoveries and advancements that make a real impact in people’s lives.

Ontario will be supporting innovation with an investment of more than $198 million in research projects at colleges, universities and research hospitals across the province. This funding will support 241 research projects across this province, and these projects will be integral in building, renovating and equipping research facilities with upgraded technology and supporting research to attract new research talent. We will continue our commitment and efforts in strengthening Ontario’s college and university hospital research initiatives, which provide college and university hospitals with the ability to adopt advanced technologies to remain competitive and move Ontario forward.