July 11th Weekly Update

Ontario First in Canada to Provide Coverage for New ALS Treatment

The Ontario government is connecting those living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, to a new treatment. Ontario is the first Canadian jurisdiction to cover the new treatment, Albrioza, under the province’s publicly funded drug program.

“Our government is giving people access to more treatment options by expanding public access to new medications and therapeutics,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “Expanding Ontario’s drug program coverage to include Albrioza, will ensure that people living with ALS will benefit from this new treatment sooner and is another example of how our government is connecting more people in our province to the care they need.”

An early phase clinical study of Albrioza demonstrated slowed disease progression, with an additional clinical study currently underway to provide additional insight. Albrioza is also being explored for the treatment of other neurodegenerative diseases.

Albrioza is now funded through the Ontario Drug Benefit Program’s Exceptional Access Program for Ontarians who meet specified criteria. Eligible Ontarians and their families are encouraged to reach out to their health care provider to help determine if Albrioza is a suitable treatment option for them.

“Mitsui High-tec (Canada), Inc.’s investment to expand its Brantford-based facilities is a huge boost not only for the people of southwestern Ontario, but for our province’s growing manufacturing and auto sectors,” said Premier Doug Ford. “With great partners, we’re building an electric vehicle and battery supply chain and making Ontario an auto-manufacturing powerhouse once again.”

Since opening its first Ontario facility in 2017, Mitsui High-tec (Canada), Inc. has expanded twice to increase production capacity and is now the only motor core parts manufacturer for EVs and hybrid vehicles in Canada. The company’s significant $102.3 million investment will be used to open a new 103,500 square-foot manufacturing facility in Brantford that will help meet the growing demand for its products.

This investment furthers Driving Prosperity, the government’s 10-year plan to transform Ontario’s automotive supply chain to build the cars of the future, including fully-battery electric vehicles. Over the last two and a half years, Ontario has attracted over $25 billion in transformative investments from global automakers, parts suppliers, and manufacturers of electric vehicle batteries and battery materials. With a talented workforce, state-of-the-art research and development facilities, clean steel manufacturing and an abundance of critical minerals, Ontario continues to be one of the most competitive places for businesses to invest and grow.

The Ontario government is protecting vulnerable and temporary foreign workers by requiring temporary help agencies (THAs) and recruiters to have a licence to operate in the province as of January 1, 2024. Inspections by Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development officers have shown that multiple temporary help agencies in Ontario are illegally paying people below the minimum wage and denying other basic employment rights to gain an unfair competitive advantage over law-abiding agencies by undercutting rates.

Many businesses and jobseekers in Ontario are often unaware if an agency or recruiter they are working with is meeting their employment standards obligations or has a history of violations. Workers will now be able to check the ministry’s online database before working with an agency, to see if the agency has met the province’s stringent licensing requirements. It will be against the law for companies to knowingly use unlicensed businesses for staffing, and those who hire deceitful recruiters will be required to repay workers for any illegal fees charged to them.

To operate their businesses, THAs and recruiters will need to provide $25,000 in the form of an irrevocable letter of credit that can be used to repay owed wages to employees. Offenders could face up to a $50,000 penalty based on repeat violations – the highest amount in Canada.

The Ontario government is investing up to $6.9 million in approximately 100 local conservation projects to restore and enhance wetlands across the province. This funding will help 14 conservation partners restore more than 2,400 acres of wetlands in Ontario, a combined area larger than Presqu’ile Provincial Park, near Brighton. The projects will improve water quality, help prevent flooding and build climate change resiliency.

The Wetlands Conservation Partner Program represents one of the largest investments in wetland restoration in Ontario’s history. The five-year, $30-million program supports a wide range of projects, restoring and enhancing large-scale wetlands, smaller wetlands on marginal agricultural lands, and wetlands in more urban areas as part of municipal stormwater management.

In this third year of the program, the province is working in partnership with a number of Ontario-based conservation organizations and municipalities, including the program’s first partner Ducks Unlimited Canada, which is celebrating 85 years of conservation leadership.

The wetland restoration and enhancement projects include:

• Another 40 wetland restoration projects, covering approximately 838 acres, will be delivered by Ducks Unlimited Canada in southern Ontario. All will improve water quality, provide habitat for at-risk species and increase climate change resiliency in communities across the province.
• 13 wetlands restoration and enhancement projects are being implemented by the Nature Conservancy of Canada across southern Ontario, covering approximately 153 acres of wetlands. Projects include managing invasive species, expanding and restoring wetlands to mitigate flooding and planting native species to enhance biodiversity. Projects support coastal wetlands along Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, Turkey Point in Lake Erie and Eastern Lake Ontario.
• In the Lake Ontario watershed, three wetland enhancement projects led by the Royal Botanical Gardens, including Rock Chapel and two coastal wetlands, one in Cootes Paradise and the second in Grindstone Marsh, will enhance wetland habitats and connectivity, help manage invasive species and improve resiliency impacts such as extreme water levels in the lake.

Ontario will also support new projects with the remaining funding under the Wetlands Conservation Partner Program with a new call for applications this year. The government will begin accepting applications starting August 8, 2023.