You know what we are doing? Training more PSWs, more nurses, initiatives like the Ontario Learn and Stay program. We have 3,500 graduates coming through the program that are nurses, lab techs and paramedics in underserved regions of the province. These students have their educational costs covered by the government in order to fill those spaces. In fact, there are actually six students for every nursing space in Ontario. This is a growing profession, and we have students across the province who are looking to become nurses.

We are going to continue to work with our post-secondary partners to ensure that we have nurses, paramedics, lab techs and PSWs across Ontario.

It sounds like the member is in favour of increasing tuition. Under the leadership of this Premier, we are going to ensure that students have affordable and accessible education in the province. That’s why we’re investing a historic $1.3 billion in post-secondary education. That’s an additional $100 million for the 65,000 STEM graduates out there and the 30,000 nursing students in our system.

We have an incredible, world-class post-secondary education system in Ontario, and we are going to ensure that with $1.3 billion, we are giving schools the affordability and the predictability that they need to ensure that we have and continue to have world-class education here in this province.

Thank you again to the member for the question.

The remarkable and inspiring graduates of Ontario’s world-class colleges show how our colleges are preparing students with the skills, the knowledge and experience they need to have rewarding careers, supporting the workforce of today and tomorrow.

The Premier’s Awards for Ontario College Graduates recognize individuals who have not only demonstrated outstanding achievement within their college experience but who have also made significant social and economic contributions to their communities and beyond. Their incredible achievements—from developing career-training programs for young Black professionals to adding Canada’s Indigenous communities to Google Maps and Google Earth—are helping to strengthen our economy and make very real and tangible differences in the lives of Ontarians. The recipients of the Premier’s Awards for Ontario College Graduates are perfect examples of the potential our college students have and why we should all have confidence in every student’s future.

Speaker, college students are making a lasting impact, and we are so proud of what these incredible young Ontarians are accomplishing.

Thank you to the member from Etobicoke–Lakeshore for that important and timely question. I say “timely” because, just last week, I was excited to announce that our government is providing over $10 million to help Mitacs, an organization that builds research partnerships between post-secondary institutions and industry, to create 2,700 paid internships for post-secondary students. We are so pleased to be supporting post-secondary students and partners through experiential learning programs like Mitacs that prepare students with skills and training needed for jobs in an innovative economy. They will not only help prepare students for the workforce through on-the-job learning but will also help to remove the stress of worrying about financial compensation.

Even further, Speaker, these internships allow employers to connect with emerging leaders in their fields, nurture talent and develop their industry.

Investing in skills training opportunities for students and recent graduates is part of our government’s plan to work for workers—supporting Ontario’s economic growth for positioning students and businesses for success.

We have made tremendous strides towards connecting students to work online or in person, part-time and full-time, across disciplines, across Ontario. In the last five years, Ontario has spent over $57 million to support Mitacs to create over 14,000 research internships, and over the next 10 years, we will be investing $500 million to support research opportunities across Ontario.

We will continue to invest in training our post-secondary students to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow, because when students succeed, Ontario succeeds.