1) Ontario Extends Program That Helps Rural And Northern Hospitals Avoid ER Closures;

Courtesy of Barrie360.com and Canadian PressPublished: Mar 22nd, 2024

Ontario is extending a program that helps rural and northern hospitals avoid temporary ER closures for another six months.

The province established what’s now known as the Temporary Locum Program during the pandemic and has renewed it several times, often at the last minute.

It had been set to expire again at the end of this month, and the Ministry of Health has now told eligible hospitals that it will now be in effect until Sept. 30.

Many of the province’s more isolated hospitals rely on doctors from urban areas filling shifts on what is known as a locum basis, and the Temporary Locum Program pays them a premium as an incentive.

A spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones has said the government is working on a permanent solution with the Ontario Medical Association.

NDP health critic France Gelinas has said the government needs to come up with a permanent solution now, instead of constantly renewing the program on a temporary basis at the last minute.

HOUSING

2) Ontario Putting Up More Cash For Roads, Pipes To Help Get More Housing Built

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian PressPublished: Mar 21st, 2024

Ontario is giving municipalities $1.6 billion more for building key infrastructure to help support new home construction.

Premier Doug Ford made the pre-budget announcement today, saying he has heard from municipal leaders that a lack of funds to build roads and water lines is one of the biggest barriers to getting more homes built.

Ford has set a target of building 1.5 million homes by 2031 and the province is so far not on track to meet that goal.

The government says it met 99 per cent of its target for last year, but that is only because it has now started counting long-term care beds toward the total.

The new money announced today includes a $1 billion Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program and an additional $625 million into a fund specifically for water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure.

The government has also established a three-year, $1.2 billion Building Faster Fund for housing-enabling and community infrastructure.

3) Province Will Not Introduce Legislation That Automatically Approves Fourplexes: Ford

Courtesy Of Barrie360.com and Canadian PressPublished: Mar 21st, 2024

By Liam Casey

Ontario will not introduce legislation to automatically allow fourplex homes to be built across the province, Premier Doug Ford said Thursday.

Such legislation – which would override municipal prohibitions – would be a “massive mistake,” Ford said.

“It’s off the table for us,” Ford said. “We’re going to build homes, single dwelling homes, townhomes, that’s what we’re focused on.”

Ford has pledged to build 1.5 million homes by 2031. 

The province’s housing affordability task force recommended in 2022 that the government bring in legislation that would automatically allow residential buildings with four units to be built anywhere on residential property in the province.

That type of legislation was considered, said Housing Minister Paul Calandra, but municipalities told him it was not a priority.

“I’m going to continue to work with those municipalities, those that have the ability to do it,” he said. “I encourage them to do it, but I’m not going to micromanage from Queen’s Park what they should be doing.”

The province implemented “as-of-right” legislation – overriding municipal rules – for triplexes in the fall of 2022 that would allow them to be built on residential properties throughout the province. 

But Calandra said only 21,000 units have been built in that time.

“It hasn’t been as successful as we would have liked it to have been,” he said of the triplex legislation.

He said the real obstacle to building more homes is the lack of infrastructure.

“Access to water and sewer, that is what’s in the way of us building the 1.5 million homes,” he said.

Ford announced earlier Thursday $1.6 billion more to build infrastructure for new home construction.

New Democrat Leader Marit Stiles called Ford’s position on fourplexes “insulting.”

“We strongly believe in the potential of fourplexes to help us address some of the housing crisis,” she said. “It’s a solution that the government’s own housing expert panel has also endorsed.”

The Liberal Party of Ontario also supports provincial fourplex legislation, said the party’s parliamentary leader, John Fraser.

“We’ve got a NIMBY conservative government led by a NIMBY premier,” Fraser said. “They’ve been focused on taking care of their friends and insiders, instead of focusing on the housing that Ontario families need.”

Fourplexes are a critical part of developing the so-called missing middle of housing, said Green Party of Ontario Leader Mike Schreiner.

“The Premier needs to talk to builders and developers who will tell you that due to the land acquisition cost to make the finances work, you really need fourplexes or higher,” he said.