I will take no advice from that member of the Liberal Party on post-secondary education in this province.

In fact, under the leadership of the Liberal government, tuition rose to the highest in Canada.

Under the leadership of Premier Ford, we decreased tuition by 10%, and it remained frozen—we announced it just the other day—and we are continuing to freeze tuition in this province. We are making post-secondary affordable for students in this province.

Mr. Speaker, I announced a historic investment, $1.3 billion, the largest investment in post-secondary education in more than a decade. We will ensure that our institutions have stability and predictability, and not on the backs of Ontario students.

While this Premier freezes tuition, the leader of the Liberal Party wants to hike tuition.

We are ensuring that tuition is affordable for every student in this province. There’s an affordability crisis—the price to heat, to eat, to rent. We are going to ensure that every student has access to affordable post-secondary education in this province.

Mr. Speaker, we made a historic announcement—$1.3 billion to ensure sustainability and predictability for our institutions in this province.

Thank you to the member for that question, but let me be clear: This government has done more for francophone post-secondary education in Ontario than any previous government. We stood up not only one but two francophone universities.

Let me be clear: The Ontario government was never directly providing funding to the University of Sudbury as it was never a stand-alone institution. But when the proposals were submitted to make the University of Sudbury a stand-alone institution, our government did a thorough assessment and concluded that it did not reflect the current demand, the enrolment trends or the existing capacity of institutions offering French-language programs in the Greater Sudbury area.

Look, over the past five years, domestic enrolment in francophone-language-education universities has declined by 30% in Ontario. So at this point, it would be irresponsible to stand up a third institution.

We have done more for francophone education in this province. We respect francophone education and giving students the opportunity. We stood up not only the Université de l’Ontario français but also the University of Hearst, so two stand-alone universities. We are giving students the opportunity to study in francophone education in this province. That’s why we are supporting sectors like health human resources by ensuring that Collège Boréal has the opportunity for stand-alone nursing not only in Sudbury, but also in Toronto. I also had the opportunity, with the Minister of Education, to announce more French-language teacher positions right here at the Université de l’Ontario français. So we are doing more for French-language university in this province than any other government has in the past, and we will continue to be responsible with the taxpayers’ dollars.

Thank you to the member from Eglinton–Lawrence for this important question.

Our government recognizes that in order to build up our health care system, we need to ensure that students pursuing medical studies have access to world-class post-secondary education. As part of that effort, we need to ensure that we have the capacity to train doctors locally—and this government is delivering. In 2022 alone, we added 160 undergraduate spaces and 295 postgraduate medical seats to be implemented over the next five years—the largest expansion of Ontario’s medical school system in over a decade. As outlined in budget 2023, we are building on that expansion by investing $33 million over three years to add another 100 undergraduate seats and 154 postgraduate seats, beginning in 2024, prioritizing Ontario students. This means that by 2028, Ontario will have the capacity to train 1,212 undergraduate medical students and 1,637 postgraduate students annually.

I can assure you that the future of medical education in Ontario is bright.

Thank you to the member from Brampton West for raising this important issue and for your advocacy on the new TMU medical school.

I am proud to say that, in 2022, we added 160 undergraduate spaces and 295 postgrad spaces over the next five years to train doctors, which is more than Ontario has seen in over a decade. In budget 2023, we were able to build on our government’s unprecedented medical seat expansion by adding an additional 100 undergraduate and 154 postgraduate seats. That is 709 new medical seats announced in just one year.

Unlike the previous Liberal government and the official opposition, our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford and the Minister of Health, have rolled up our sleeves and got it done. We didn’t just talk about needing more doctors; we are ensuring that we will have more doctors. Our government is building Ontario’s health care system to be stronger, more resilient and better than before.

We have taken a pragmatic approach to ensure that every medical seat expansion increases medical seats in all regions of Ontario. By training more students in key communities, we will keep up with providing quality health care to the growing population and improving distribution and retention of physicians across the province.

To the member from Brampton, I share your excitement about the new Toronto Metropolitan University medical school in Brampton, and I cannot wait for the first cohort to be welcomed. Speaker, it’s worth repeating that Brampton isn’t the only medical school announced by this government. Because of the work done by Premier Ford, we were able to transform the northern Ontario medical school to a stand-alone institution and create the Scarborough Academy of Medicine under the University of Toronto.

We aren’t just training doctors for humans. We’re also training more vets, thanks to the collaboration between Guelph and Lakehead University.

Speaker, our government continues to make record investments to build up our health care infrastructure. We’re ensuring that we have the trained professionals needed to care for all Ontarians, including the furry and feathered ones.

Thank you to the member from Markham–Thornhill for that important question. We all can agree—we know how vital nurses are to the health care system. I’m proud to say that we’ve created the conditions where a record number of Ontario students are excited to enter the nursing field and begin their postgraduate nursing education.

Our innovative approach to connecting students to nursing programs closer to home is delivering real results so we can keep Ontario open for all. Since 2020, we have allowed stand-alone nursing programs at 14 colleges and universities across Ontario to keep up with this demand. This means that students across the province, from St. Catharines to Ottawa to Sault Ste. Marie, have greater choice than ever before. This means getting them through the system quicker and getting them into the workforce.

In addition, our $61-million investment into the Learn and Stay program will provide life-changing financial supports to students right here in Ontario. These investments and programs are making real change in Ontario, and we will continue to provide students with the education and skills they need to address health care needs in this province.

Through an investment of $34 million over four years to Indigenous institutes, we are increasing enrolment at PSW programs at six Indigenous institutes. This investment is expected to directly train over 400 PSWs in the next four years, and will support the enhancement of Indigenous knowledge and language in students’ learning.

Together, we are working to overcome the unique challenges facing our health care system and our students. We will continue to work collaboratively with Indigenous communities, so that students receive culturally relevant, high-calibre education and Indigenous people can continue accessing effective and culturally appropriate health care.

Thank you to the member from Oakville North–Burlington for that important question. We need to increase health human resources, and that starts with post-secondary education. Our government is getting it done by taking action to increase health human resources across Ontario through our historic expansion of health care post-secondary education.

Earlier this year, we established the Northern Ontario School of Medicine as the first stand-alone medical school in northern Ontario. This gives students the flexibility to study closer to home and serve remote and underserved communities across Ontario.

We are also building the first new medical school in the GTA since the University of Toronto built their medical school back in 1843. We are the government that is building the new Toronto Metropolitan University medical school in Brampton. We are also creating the new University of Toronto Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health in Scarborough, and expanding the Queen’s Lakeridge Health campus in Durham.

Our government knows that training more doctors will ensure that Ontarians have access to doctors.

We need to train more health care professionals across Ontario. Not only are we increasing the number of medical seats that will serve both urban and rural communities across Ontario, but we are also enhancing existing medical and health care programs. Our government is adding 160 undergraduate and 295 postgraduate positions to six medical schools across Ontario, but we are also enhancing.

Earlier this year, we also announced our learn-and-stay program, which, over the next four years, can help 3,000 nurse graduates receive financial support to cover the cost of tuition in exchange for two years’ service in an underserved community.

Speaker, we understand that in order to keep Ontario safe and open, we need to ensure that we have a high-quality, resilient health care system, and that starts with a high-quality postsecondary education system across the province. That is why we are expanding opportunities for students in every part of Ontario to join the health care profession.

Thank you to the member for the question. We are taking it very seriously. This government wants to ensure that everyone in this province has access to a family physician, whether you are living in northern Ontario, rural Ontario or underserved areas within the GTA. That’s why we are taking measures to ensure that we are training more and more doctors by opening the new Brampton medical school, the Scarborough integrated medical school, as well as expanding the Queen’s Lakeridge Health centre. These are all measures we are taking to ensure we have more doctors for the future.

We’re also expanding the medical seats in this province. This is the first time this has been done in over a decade. There will be 160 undergraduate seats and 295 postgraduate seats.

This government takes this very seriously. We want to ensure every Ontarian has access to doctors and proper health care resources across this province. We will continue to work together with this and ensure that everyone has access to these resources.

Thank you to the member for Brampton North for that question.

Our government is getting it done for the people of Ontario by providing additional supports to health care post-secondary education.

After 15 years of Liberal mismanagement, this government is taking action to increase health human resources in Brampton. We understand that a growing population means a growing need for health care professionals.

Through our historic medical education expansion, we are delivering on the first new medical school not only in Brampton, but the first new medical school in the GTA in over 100 years. That’s right; the last medical school built in the GTA was the University of Toronto, in 1843. We are the government that is building the new Toronto Metropolitan University medical school in Brampton.

We are also creating the new University of Toronto Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health in Scarborough, and expanding the Queen’s Lakeridge health campus.

Our government knows that training more doctors will ensure Ontarians can access the health care they need when they need it, wherever they may live.

I am happy to say that our government has taken action on this issue. As the member mentioned, it is important to have high-quality training across Ontario. Not only are we increasing choices for students in the GTA to access post-secondary health education—but across Ontario as well.

Earlier this year, we established the Northern Ontario School of Medicine as the first stand-alone medical school in northern Ontario. This will give students the flexibility to study closer to home and serve remote and underserved communities across Ontario.

I also want to note that our government is adding 160 undergraduate seats and 295 postgraduate positions to six medical schools over the next five years. This is the largest expansion of undergraduate seats in over a decade.

We need to ensure that we have a high-quality and resilient health care system, and that starts with high-quality post-secondary education across the province. At colleges and universities, our government has created hundreds of new opportunities for students to join Ontario’s health care professions.

Thank you to the member for the question.

Our government understands that a high-quality health care system starts with a high-quality post-secondary education system, and our government is working to support students in all health care fields at Ontario’s strong post-secondary institutions.

I was very excited to announce our innovative Learn and Stay program earlier this year. As a first step, the government is investing $81 million to support the expansion of the Community Commitment Program for Nurses, targeting newly graduated registered nurses, registered practical nurses and nurse practitioners. This program shows our commitment to working for workers by helping newly licensed internationally educated nurses and nurses returning to practise. Over the next four years, 3,000 nurse graduates can receive financial support to cover the costs of their tuition, in exchange for committing to practise for two years in an underserved community.

Our government understands that in order to keep Ontario safe and open, we need to ensure we have a high-quality and resilient health care system, and that requires that Ontarians pursuing medical studies have access to world-class post-secondary education right here in the province of Ontario.

So 2022 has been an exciting year for aspiring doctors and both current and future medical school students. Earlier this year, our government outlined our transformative expansions of medical school education as we continue to build a stronger, more resilient health care system, especially in growing and underserved communities. Our government is proudly adding 160 undergraduate seats and 295 postgraduate positions to six medical schools over the next five years. This is the largest expansion of undergraduate and postgraduate education in over a decade, and this is in addition to the expansion which will include a new medical school in Brampton and Scarborough.

I’d love to expand on all of the things that we’re doing for nursing education right here in Ontario. As I mentioned, we have the new Learn and Stay program, which will come into effect in the fall of 2023. This will ensure that we have nursing opportunities across the province in some of our underserved areas. This will ensure that students who will make a commitment for two years in an underserved area will have their tuition and educational costs covered to serve in those communities—something I’m particularly excited about.

We also included access to stand-alone nursing programs at colleges across Ontario—in my own community, at Georgian College; at Lambton College in Sarnia, at Loyalist College. So 14 colleges in Ontario are now able to offer stand-alone nursing programs. This will ensure that we have more nurses added to the system and that we have access to nursing in our underserved communities across Ontario.