Dear Constituents,
I am excited to share that the Premier has reached a new deal that will help achieve long-term financial stability and sustainability for the city of Toronto. Following 10 weeks of productive working group discussions to find collaborative solutions to the city’s operating and capital deficits, an agreement was reached to put the city on a path to succeed.
In addition, last week, I had the privilege of attending an event at the ROM to honour the 2022 Order of Ontario recipients. There were 26 very deserving Ontarians who received the order including three from our riding – Dr. David Tannenbaum, Dr Padraig Warde and Dr. Frank Silver, and one former riding resident, Eric Lindros.
You can read about their impressive accomplishments at this link:
https://news.ontario.ca/en/backgrounder/1003769/the-2022-appointees-to-the-order-of-ontario
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Our government is working hard to deliver on items that matter to Ontarians. In this edition of the Weekly Update, you can find the latest news on what the Province is doing to:
- Recruit More Personal Support Workers into Long-Term and at Home Care
- Support a New Deal with Toronto
- Expand into Eco-Friendly Hydrogen Electricity
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New Incentives To Attract Thousands of PSW Students and Recent Graduates to Connect People to Care
The Ontario government is investing more than $300 million over three years to help thousands of people launch careers as personal support workers in long-term care homes and in the home and community care sector. Recruiting more personal support workers is part of the province’s Your Health plan to connect long-term care residents to more hours of direct care and expand home care services.
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Ontario is now offering new incentives of up to $25,400 to students and recent graduates of personal support worker education programs, including:
- Up to $5,400 to students while they complete their clinical placement in long-term care or home and community care;
- $10,000 for current students and recent graduates who commit to working in a long-term care home or with a home and community care service provider for 12 months; and
- $10,000 to help with relocation costs to graduates who commit to working in a long-term care home or with a home and community care service provider in a rural, remote or northern community for 12 months.
These incentives are retroactive to April 1, 2023 for students who recently completed their clinical placements and personal support workers who started working in long-term care or home and community care.
For information on becoming a personal support worker and how to take advantage of the government incentives, visit: https://www.ontario.ca/gopsw
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Toronto’s New Deal
As part of the new deal, Ontario has agreed to provide the city with up to $1.2 billion in provincial operating supports over three years and significant capital relief. This includes an annual operating funding of $330 million over three years beginning in 2024–2025 for new subway-integrated provincial transit projects — the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and the Finch West LRT, providing $600 million in additional operating support for shelters and homelessness, and $300 million in one-time funding for subways and transit safety, recovery, and sustainability that includes commitments on the part of the city related to increased police or safety officer presence on and near transit.
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While Ontario and Toronto have taken meaningful action through this new deal to advance key provincial priorities, federal assistance is essential for the city to achieve long-term financial sustainability. The city and the province continue to call on the federal government to step up as a full partner with funding in critical areas of need such as shelter support for asylum claimants and transit funding. Toronto is unique among Canada’s cities, both in terms of the challenges it faces and its long-standing and unparalleled contributions to the province’s shared success. To move forward on this new deal, the government will soon introduce the New Deal for Toronto Act, which, if passed, would provide the necessary authorities to make this deal a reality.
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Ontario Boosting Its Power Grid with Hydrogen
The Government of Ontario is investing $5.9 million in nine new projects that will integrate hydrogen into the province’s electricity grid. This funding is through the Hydrogen Innovation Fund which supports projects that pave the way for the production of reliable, affordable and clean electricity from hydrogen to help power the province’s growth. As part of today’s funding, Atura Power is receiving $4.1 million to blend hydrogen with natural gas to produce electricity at Halton Hills Generating Station (HHGS) making it the largest electricity-based, grid-connected, low-carbon hydrogen blending project in Canada’s history. The Niagara Hydrogen Centre will utilize excess water that would otherwise have been spilled over Niagara Falls to create clean electricity that will be used to produce clean hydrogen for the project.
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The eight other projects include:
- Capital Power is receiving $206,300 to study the feasibility of blending hydrogen with natural gas (between 5 per cent to 15 per cent hydrogen) at their existing Brampton, Windsor and Newmarket generation facilities.
- Capital Power is also receiving $150,000 to study the feasibility of producing and storing low-carbon hydrogen, produced from wind generation, to fuel a hybrid hydrogen-methane turbine at their Goderich location.
- HydroMéga Services in Cochrane is receiving $100,000 to study the feasibility of upgrading an existing 27-megawatt natural gas facility to include renewable generation, low-carbon hydrogen production and storage.
- York University is receiving $38,000 to study the feasibility of retrofitting existing gas turbine generators to blend hydrogen with natural gas to generate electricity.
- York University is also receiving $90,000 to model and analyse the potential of installing low-carbon hydrogen facilities across Ontario, including costs and sizing.
- Western University is receiving $498,000 to develop a demonstration site, which will test solar-generated hydrogen and biogas-generated hydrogen to assess the environmental benefits of each.
- Volta Energy in Toronto is receiving $491,352 to assess how reversible solid oxide hydrogen cells technology can help provide a pathway for hydrogen integration into the electricity grid.
- The Transition Accelerator in Hamilton is receiving $101,205 to research the economic readiness of the Hamilton region to become a hub for hydrogen investment.
As part of the province’s Low-Carbon Hydrogen Strategy, Ontario established the Hydrogen Innovation Fund in February 2023 which will invest $15 million over the next three years to kickstart and develop opportunities for hydrogen to be integrated into Ontario’s clean electricity system, including hydrogen electricity storage. These investments are key in ensuring that Ontario remains an innovative and world-class energy producer. |
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My constituency office is open Monday to Friday from 10AM to 4PM.
If you have any questions or concerns we’re readily available to assist you.
You can also reach us by phone at (416) 781-2395
or by email at robin.martin@pc.ola.org.
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Warmest Wishes,
 Robin Martin, MPP
Eglinton-Lawrence
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