August 12th Weekly Update

In her speech, the Lieutenant Governor highlighted a number of important priorities that the Government of Ontario is focusing on, including healthcare, housing, affordability, education and other issues. You can read the full transcript of the Speech from the Throne by clicking here. You can also watch the video recording of the speech here.

Ontarians elected this government with an even stronger mandate to get it done. The Ontario government has a plan to build new homes, roads and transit. A plan to give you a break and put more money in your pocket. And a plan to create new and better jobs.

Over the last four years, Ontario has come so far. Now is the time to redouble these efforts. The Ontario government is steadfast in its path forward focused on economic growth, not painful tax hikes or spending cuts. To achieve this growth, we will continue to get it done with our ambitious plan.

It is our plan that says yes to rebuilding Ontario’s economy. Says yes to working for workers. Says yes to building highways and key infrastructure. Says yes to keeping costs down. And says yes to a plan to stay open. Our plan will build a stronger Ontario for workers, businesses, and families.

Ontarians continue to have access to the care they need when they need it. At the moment, nine out of 10 high-urgency patients finish their emergency visit within target times, and surgeries are happening at 88 per cent of their pre-pandemic rate. The government has already added 3,100 new hospital beds and 10,500 health care workers, including nurses and personal support workers.

The Ontario government is also eliminating Canadian work experience requirements for foreign healthcare professionals to build on the over 760 internationally educated nurses already deployed through the Supervised Practice Experience Program.

Provinces across the country are facing the same pressures we’re facing in our province, and the Ontario government is doing everything in its power to make sure our healthcare system has all the support it needs.

We know more needs to be done. We continue to work with all partners including Ontario Health and the 140 public hospitals, the regulatory colleges, and health sector unions, to address any challenges on the ground.

Ontario has and will continue to have one of the largest publicly funded health care systems in the world. We’re investing $77.5 billion this year to provide Ontarians with the care they need.

We are also working with all of our health care partners to identify innovative solutions to surgical recovery like expanding funding for procedures performed on evenings and weekends. These facilities already perform publicly (OHIP) funded procedures and will ensure patients can access the health care they need when they need it.

The Ontario government introduced legislation that would give the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa more responsibility to deliver on shared provincial-municipal priorities, including building 1.5 million new homes over the next 10 years.

Over one third of Ontario’s growth over the next decade is expected to happen in Toronto and Ottawa. With the help of local municipalities more families can realize the dream of attainable homeownership.

If passed, the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act would give the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa the tools to move forward provincial priorities, select municipal department heads and deliver budgets.

While there is no ‘one silver bullet’ to solve Ontario’s housing crisis, these proposed changes will provide the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa with an additional set of tools to help get more homes built faster and deliver on their platform commitments to their constituents.

We are supporting municipalities, and remain focused on improving planning policies and cutting red tape to get homes built faster. The Ontario government is leading by example and encourage other government partners to join us by taking concrete steps to help all Ontarians find a home that meets their needs.

As we look forward to September, the Ontario is fully committed to ensuring all students return to the classroom on time, with the full school experience that students deserve.

The provincial government has increased investments by over $683 million to get students back on track following two years of disruption – making it the single largest investment in learning recovery, tutoring supports, summer learning, mental health and special education in Ontario history.

We are investing $176 million to expand access to free school-based tutoring. While many parents and educators have noted stagnation or regression in reading and math skills, our government is meeting this challenge head-on with $40 million in foundational learning support.

We are coupling learning recovery investments with additional supports for student mental health and well-being in 2022-23, by investing more than $90 million including $10 million in new funding, which is the highest amount in Ontario history. This represents a 420% increase in mental health funding since the Liberal government in 2017-18.

The Ontario government is continuing to build state-of-the-art schools and classrooms while renewing existing schools, investing $2.1 billion for the 2022-23 school year.

The Ontario government will continue our focus on STEM education to build critical life and job skills so students can graduate with well-paying jobs.

Under the Premier of Ontario, the Ontario government will continue to invest in the next generation – ensuring students graduate with a competitive advantage so they can emerge as Canada’s leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs.

• Plan to Catch Up
• Keeping Costs Down for Ontario Families
• Ontario’s Plan to Build Supporting Stronger Province and Economy
• Ontario Making it Easier and Faster to Renew Ontario Photo Cards
• Ontario Platform Enabling Electronic Filing of Criminal Charges Now Available Provincewide
• Ontario Introduces French Accents on Health Cards

• Government of Canada to Announce Support for Crisis Hotline Across Canada 
• Design of the Tax-Free First Home Savings Account

• Toronto Public Health confirms first mosquitoes to test positive for West Nile virus in 2022
• Graduation ceremony for Toronto Paramedic Services’ Paramedic recruits