Markham-Stouffville Community Update for April 1, 2022
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Ontario Introduces a Plan to Stay Open
Although Ontario continues to make tremendous progress in the fight against COVID-19, including manufacturing personal protective equipment here in Ontario and making historic investments in the province’s health and long-term care systems, our government must secure its progress and ensure it’s prepared for the future.
With the worst of Omicron now behind us, Ontario is introducing A Plan to Stay Open, which includes legislation that, if passed, will expand on policies and measures already in place to ensure the province is able to stay open by building a stronger, more resilient health care system that is better able to respond to crisis.
If passed, A Plan to Stay Open will recruit and retain more doctors, nurses and personal support workers, further expand domestic production of critical supplies like masks and vaccines and will continue building health care infrastructure so hospitals have the capacity to deliver high-quality care to treat more patients.
Ontario’s hardworking families, dedicated health care workers and job-creating businesses deserve a plan that will keep Ontario open, safe, and prepared. And “A Plan to Stay Open” is how the government will ensure all Ontarians have the stability and confidence they expect and deserve.
Learn more: Ontario Introduces a Plan to Stay Open | Ontario Newsroom
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Ontario’s Child Care Action Plan Puts
Families First
The Ontario government stood up for taxpayers and has delivered a $13.2 billion agreement that will dramatically reduce fees for parents, and provide more accessible and high-quality child care for Ontario families, including delivering an average of $10 a day child care by September 2025.
Families will immediately save 25%, retroactive to April 1st, and by 50% on average by December of 2022 – which represents on average roughly $4,000 per child this year and over $12,000 in 2023. This agreement will create 86,000 additional childcare spaces and support the hiring of new early childhood educators and improved compensation for all staff working in licensed child care.
Under the previous government, child care costs rose over 400%, the highest levels across the country. Parents deserve better. The previous government wanted Ontario to sign a deal that would have left billions and an extra year of funding on the table, thousands of spaces unfunded, and no support for families using for-profit childcare.
As a result, the current government has secured $3 billion more over the course of the agreement, an additional year of funding, and flexibility to support all parents. Together, through the Ontario Child Care Tax Credit (CARE), Ontario parents are now provided with the largest array of options, benefits, and support for early years and child care in the country.
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Ontario Secures Largest Auto Investment in Province’s History
With the support of the Ontario, federal and municipal governments, LG Energy Solution and automaker Stellantis are joining forces to build the province’s first large-scale electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing plant. The investment is the largest automotive investment in the history of Ontario and the latest sign that the EV revolution has taken hold in Ontario.
The over $5 billion joint venture between Stellantis and LGES will build a facility in Windsor to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles (EV) in Canada.
- It is expected to help create an estimated 2,500 jobs.
- The facility is expected to be operational in 2024.
- The facility, with a production capacity of 45 gigawatt hours (GWh), will supply Stellantis plants in the North American market.
This historic investment will accelerate Ontario’s 10 year vision for the Driving Prosperity ― The Future of Ontario’s Automotive Sector plan that puts Ontario on a path to becoming one of the most vertically integrated automotive jurisdictions in the emerging North American EV market.
Ontario’s top-quality manufacturing talent, clean and competitive electricity, access to investment-ready sites, and our government’s work to reduce the cost of doing business in Ontario by $7 billion a year, continue to make the province a destination for major investments, ensuring that everyone in Ontario benefits from the auto sector’s long-term growth and success.
Learn more: Ontario Secures Largest Auto Investment in Province’s History | Ontario Newsroom
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Ontario is Making It Easier to Buy a Home
Ontario is the best place to live, start a business, and raise a family – but we can only build on our success if all Ontarians are able to find a home they need and deserve.
That is why Ontario is introducing the More Homes for Everyone Act, the next phase of our housing supply action plan. Our plan proposes smart, targeted policies that will make housing more fair for hardworking Ontarians, and get housing built faster for families who want and need them.
This includes:
- Increasing the Non-Resident Speculation Tax rate to 20 per cent, expanding the tax to apply provincewide, and closing loopholes to fight tax avoidance.
- Requiring municipalities to provide timely approvals and requiring that municipalities who fail to meet these timelines would be responsible for refunding site plan and zoning by-law amendment fees.
- Investing more than $19 million to help the Ontario Land Tribunal and the Landlord and Tenant Board to reduce their backlogs by appointing new adjudicators, hiring more staff, and expanding the OLT’s digital offerings.
- Creating a new Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator would help municipalities expedite approvals for housing and community infrastructure, like hospitals and community centres, while increasing transparency and accountability.
The Ontario government is committed to implementing the Task Force’s recommendations with a housing supply action plan every year over four years, starting in 2022-23, with policies and tools that support multi-generational homes and missing middle housing.
Learn more: Ontario is Making It Easier to Buy a Home | Ontario Newsroom
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Constituency Office Services
My constituency office is here to serve you. We offer assistance for various provincial government services such as the renewal of Driver’s Licences, Health Cards, WSIB claims, ODSP/FRO cases, and any other service under provincial jurisdiction.
Our staff remains available to respond to your inquiries via phone or email. Should you require any assistance, please email paul.calandra@pc.ola.org or call 905-642-2588. We will endeavour to respond as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding.
To reduce in-person visits to ServiceOntario, a number of provincially-issued documents have extended expiry dates. Please click here for further information and to confirm the revised expiry date for your product or identity document.
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