I’m happy to rise for the second reading of Bill 131, Transportation for the Future Act. I will be sharing my time today with the Associate Minister of Transportation, my former parliamentary assistant, the MPP from Scarborough.

Infrastructure plays a critical role in supporting the quality of life enjoyed by all Ontarians. It’s what makes our roads safer, our travel more convenient, and our communities healthier and more vibrant. When we build hospitals and long-term-care homes, we’re ensuring the most vulnerable people and our loved ones are taken care of. When high-speed Internet infrastructure is deployed, we’re ensuring that all communities across the province can participate and thrive in the 21st-century digital world. When a new highway or transit line is built, we’re helping hard-working residents get home to their families faster.

Our government is moving forward with the most ambitious capital plan in Ontario’s history by investing more than $184 billion over the next decade. We are making historic investments in infrastructure that will make a difference in people’s lives while creating good jobs in communities across Ontario.

Every day, our ministry is working hard to improve the lives of millions of people. But to do that, we need to build better infrastructure, faster and more efficiently, while saving taxpayers money. That includes a well-functioning transit system that is critical for those who rely on it every single day, whether they’re travelling to work or school, visiting family or friends, or making their way to a medical appointment.

Now, more than ever, our province continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. There is an urgent need to build better transit for the future. We have much work to do, and we cannot delay. We know that we face challenges that, if left unchecked, will lead to much more significant problems down the road.

We know that our province, like many areas across the country, is facing a housing crisis. We also know that we’re experiencing the fastest population growth in years. Therefore, we need the necessary infrastructure to support this growth. We need to deliver a transit system that meets the challenges of today, while preparing for the needs of tomorrow. And we need new tools that will help fund and deliver new transit stations, while expediting transit-connected housing to meet our goal of building at least 1.5 million new homes by 2031.

That’s why, today, we are introducing the Transportation for the Future Act, 2023, that, if passed, would build more GO transit stations, spur more housing and create mixed-use communities around transit, resulting in a more convenient commute across the greater Golden Horseshoe. Speaker, before getting into the legislation, I’d like to talk briefly about why this is so important.

We have over 500 kilometres of GO rail service. As we expand service with OnCorr, we also have an opportunity to build new stations. These transit-oriented communities will bring more housing, jobs, retail and public amenities close to transit. People’s day-to-day lives are getting busier. Between work, family and other responsibilities, they not only want convenience; they need it. TOCs create places that are more livable and walkable. By building transit where people live and work, we are increasing ridership, reducing gridlock, stimulating economic growth, increasing housing supply, and lowering the cost of building infrastructure for taxpayers. And we’ve made excellent progress. Work is already under way to deliver eight TOCs along the new Ontario Line and Yonge North subway extension, which will create approximately 77,000 jobs and about 48,000 residential units, including affordable housing. We are also creating new housing and mixed-use communities around GO stations within the greater Golden Horseshoe.

Through TOCs, we are taking a bold and innovative approach to city building. To support the delivery of GO expansion, several years ago, the province, through Metrolinx, introduced a market-driven strategy to help build new stations and improve existing GO stations. That meant new stations would be delivered by the private sector, where financially feasible. While that strategy has worked well and transit-oriented communities are being built, this approach typically relies on one single landowner or building partner, and it could mean years before a new station is actually built.

Our proposed legislation would, if passed, create a station contribution fee as an innovative new tool that municipalities can use to help spur the construction of new GO transit stations, leading to accelerated transit expansion and vibrant, complete mixed-use communities with much-needed housing. If adopted, it would allow municipalities to recover costs from funding the design and construction of new GO transit stations. The station contribution fee would be charged on new developments within areas surrounding these new GO stations identified by municipalities, with revenue collected over time, as transit-oriented communities are built around them. The municipality would only collect the fee until the full station costs are recovered. Municipalities proposing to use this tool would be expected to show a reduction in other development costs to help offset the fee. To give an example, municipalities could reduce parking requirements, which is a huge development-related expense. Such a reduction would be made possible because of the introduction of new transit, which would reduce the reliance on single-occupancy vehicles and the number of required parking spaces. Therefore, municipalities, builders and Metrolinx will have to work together to keep costs down. Together, we will build more stations, housing, and improve access for riders. Also, it is important to note that this would be an optional tool that could only be used in places where the province has determined a new GO station is warranted. We have consulted with a number of municipalities, and they have indicated their support for such a tool to help them expedite transit expansion in their jurisdictions.

If passed, our proposed legislation would help municipalities take an active role in transit expansion and delivery, while serving as a catalyst for unlocking new transit-oriented communities without burdening taxpayers. It would lead to more housing, local businesses, investment opportunities, reduced travel times and better connections across the province, benefiting residents and municipalities, and encouraging more housing near transit. And it means stations will be delivered sooner in many communities.

This voluntary tool could help deliver new stations along the Lakeshore East extension into Bowmanville, Lakeshore West into Niagara, and along the Milton and Kitchener lines.

This is a win-win-win for the province, municipalities and residents. It would mean that transit stations are built sooner, at little cost to the province and taxpayers. The proposal would give municipalities an additional revenue tool to bring a regional transit connection into their cities and their towns, spurring economic growth and bringing vital housing to their residents.

Meanwhile, residents and local businesses will clearly benefit from a new transit station that connects to jobs, opportunities and destinations throughout the region, as well as the increased housing options that are built around them. It means more convenience. It means fewer cars on the road and less time spent in traffic. It means getting to where you need to go faster and more conveniently, with more travel options. And it means more businesses forming in those communities, and more jobs, along with opportunities for those businesses to reach even more customers. It will be especially beneficial for less densely populated areas that have limited or no access to regional transit, as rural and urban areas are further connected. It will help boost local economies, such as local construction and engineering businesses that benefit from the design and construction of new stations.

And with increased growth around future stations, we’re also encouraging more walkable communities, further stimulating the local business economy as more people walk by and visit shops, restaurants, cafes and local services. It will mean people can have better access to vital services in their communities and across the region, such as education and health care, while benefiting those who rely on public transit every day. And this will help more people reduce their carbon footprint.

Everyone benefits from better transit infrastructure and greater regional connections. Should municipalities choose not to use this proposed funding tool, the province will continue to work with them through a market-driven strategy to help fund and build new GO stations.

Speaker, this proposed tool would be used with the utmost transparency, as municipalities will be required to conduct a background study and also consult with the community on that study before submitting a proposal to the province. The decision will then lie with the province to approve the use of the station contribution fee for each municipality. The province would only select proposals where the municipality is in a financial position to ensure they have sufficient borrowing capacity.

When we were developing this innovative new tool, we looked to other jurisdictions to find best practices. Studies have shown how collaboration amongst government, transit agencies, municipalities, builders and others can help finance world-class transit infrastructure. Fees like our proposed station contribution fee have been part of financing strategies for successful transit expansion projects such as new stations in various countries.

In fact, the use of land value capture funding methods similar to our proposed tool is well documented. These methods have, for example, been used to fund two world-renowned transit systems.

In Hong Kong, they have a model where transit is built simultaneously with residential development by capturing real estate income to finance the capital and operating costs of new transit. This approach has been adopted to deliver several projects in the city, including Kowloon station, Tin Hau station and the Island Line.

Meanwhile, in London, UK, you’ll find a major cross-London rail link that serves the entire region called the Elizabeth line. That line was made possible through an innovative program of project financing and land value capture.

We also found other examples of development-based fees in North America that helped fund the costs of building transit infrastructure.

The city of Vancouver has a development cost levy that applies to new development projects through the amount of square footage, similar to how our proposed station contribution fee would be implemented. The funds collected through this levy are used to support various infrastructure projects, including transit.

Portland, Oregon, uses a transportation system development charge applied to new development projects. It helps fund transportation infrastructure, including transit expansion and construction of new stations.

So our proposal follows in the same tradition of best practices used around the world.

TOCs have also been successfully implemented in cities like Sydney and Washington, DC.

Speaker, it’s time that we think of innovative, creative solutions that will help reach our common goals, help build much-needed housing, and ensure our infrastructure meets the needs of today’s rapidly growing population.

Earlier this year, I had the honour of leading an infrastructure mission to Japan to continue building on our history of friendship and close economic and cultural ties. I was there to strengthen relations, share best practices and exchange ideas with key Japanese builders on building urban railways and transit-oriented communities, while also promoting Ontario as a place to invest. We met with officials from various government bodies and transit companies, including Tokyo Metropolitan Government; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; Osaka Prefecture; Tokyo Metro; and JR Central. I also met with private sector leaders with extensive experience in infrastructure development. It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to exchange ideas on building key infrastructure, including urban rail and transit-oriented communities. I visited Shinjuku Station, which had well over 200 exits, surrounded and filled with shops and restaurants. I rode the Shinkansen, also known as the bullet train, visited Tokyo Station, and learned about all of the different lines for the local subway system, the regional system, and the bullet train. As we are also building transit-oriented communities here in Ontario, it was extremely valuable to learn how jurisdictions like Tokyo developed TOCs, which created mixed-use communities around their transit stations.

Japan has the world’s most extensive railway network and one of the most reliable transit systems, with countless examples of successful and vibrant communities centred around their stations. We found that what makes their transit-oriented communities so successful was thinking outside of the box, along with the partnerships between various levels of government, transit agencies and municipalities, and the adoption of various land value capture models.

If we want a world-class transit system, now is the time for creative solutions.

This proposed tool, if adopted by municipalities, will help accelerate transit expansion all across the greater Golden Horseshoe and unlock significant housing opportunities across the region. It will help address the challenges associated with the typical market-driven approaches that require a single landowner and building partner, especially for communities outside of Toronto.

If adopted, the proposed tool would apply to all landowners and developers looking to redevelop within a specific area around a GO station, which means that the funding contribution is spread out among many interested parties instead of just one. It would also provide more certainty around the timing and the delivery of the station, and it would allow municipalities to initiate and have more control over when the station will be delivered, while encouraging them to take an active role in spurring more housing in their jurisdictions. If a municipality funds the delivery of the station using this proposed tool, the province, through Metrolinx, would be responsible for owning, operating and maintaining it upon completion.

It’s exciting to see various levels of government and our private sector partners working together to build better transit and create vibrant mixed-use communities along our transit lines, while addressing one of the biggest issues of our time by spurring the creation of more housing. Speaker, by passing this legislation and approving the use of this new tool, we will create more GO stations and transit-oriented communities so that people can get to where they need to go faster, while reducing gridlock and encouraging economic renewal and growth. TOCs are a forward-thinking approach to strengthening the relationship between transit, employment, housing, commercial spaces and public amenities to create vibrant and mixed-use communities.

With today’s challenges, it’s time we build a world-class transit system that looks to the future. That’s why we are taking bold steps to build integrated mixed-use communities around the subway and the existing GO rail network. This will help families and businesses better access transit and jobs in their neighbourhoods so they can better participate in our province’s economy. By bringing jobs and housing closer to transit, we’re also helping the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, resulting from fewer cars on our roads.

Our Transit-Oriented Communities Program is allowing us to leverage third-party investment to explore new funding avenues and opportunities to deliver the cost-efficient transit solutions commuters have been waiting for, and we are making terrific progress.

On the Ontario Line, we have proposed transit-oriented communities at six stations. East Harbour will be an integrated transit-centric station that will include a diverse range of commercial, residential, affordable housing, retail, food, cultural uses, and community amenities. The site will be a multimodal transit hub incorporating GO train, TTC light-rail transit and the future Ontario Line subway. It will also become the gateway to the Port Lands. At Corktown station, the site will provide a mix of new housing opportunities and commercial, retail and public realm space, while commemorating the history of the first Parliament site. The other three transit-oriented communities along the Ontario Line south will be at Exhibition, King and Bathurst, and Queen and Spadina stations, featuring new housing, office and retail space.

Most recently, we announced a proposed transit-oriented community on the northern portion of the Ontario Line at the future Gerrard station, which will create about two acres of public space including access to retail, a grocery store and other amenities, while adding housing and jobs and a new public park. The future Gerrard station will connect users to local TTC bus, streetcar and subway service.

Interjection.

Yes, I will. The intention of the bill, the Transportation for the Future Act, 2023, would help unlock transit-oriented communities along our GO rail system and then, of course, make transit a more convenient service for transit riders and residents in the GTA.

Ms. Stiles moved first reading of the following bill:

An Act to reverse changes to the greenbelt.