Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee.
That's a nice segue from Mr. Laurin's testimony on infrastructure.
I want to recognize and thank MP John Brassard, the member for Barrie-Innisfil, for being here today as well.
Thank you for allowing me to speak to you.
On behalf of Ontario's big city mayors, we are the mayors of the cities in Ontario with 100,000 or more population, which represents two-thirds of Ontario’s population. As you all know, our cities in Canada are being asked and called upon to meet new challenges. The issues that affect us as mayors are the issues that affect everyday Canadians: affordable housing, jobs, and infrastructure. I will say a little bit about each today.
I want to start by saying that it’s very encouraging to see the federal government’s focus on ensuring prosperous and secure communities. Investing in our cities strengthens our economy and ensures our long-term prosperity.
Municipal finance is very complex, but the major fiscal challenge affecting us, Ontario’s big cities, is straightforward. We're spending less than half of what is needed on existing infrastructure, which has led to an infrastructure deficit. With a renewed federal partnership, Ontario’s cities are ready to get shovels in the ground quickly on major infrastructure renewal. Mr. Laurin and I did not coordinate our testimony; that just happened.
The list of projects are long, and the urgent need for reinvestment in existing road and water networks, building new transportation links, and community infrastructure cannot be overstated. As Ontario's big city mayors, we're very encouraged by the Liberal Party's platform of infrastructure investment, which we believe is based on collaboration with municipalities and vows to address the critical issues facing our community, such as affordable housing.
However, what cities need is long-term, predictable, sustainable, and dedicated infrastructure funding mechanisms similar to the permanent and indexed gas tax fund. We also need streamlined and faster approval processes and greater coordination and consistency between federal and provincial infrastructure funding programs. We do not need a process of political-based decision-making nor do we need to create application processes and agreements that are so lengthy and complex that we lose the 2016 construction season.
I want to say to the committee that I also believe that it is really time we stopped treating our basic economic infrastructure in this country like it's something to only be invested in or maintained during periodic stimulus periods. The productivity gap that is holding Canada's economy back is partly a result of our under-investment in the fundamentals of a strong, modern economy. Chief among them is the ability to move goods, people, and information at the speeds demanded by modern businesses. A permanent increase in gas tax funding with criteria that tie this investment to economic infrastructure would allow all three levels of government to engage in building our economy and in making Canada more competitive.
In addition to urgently needed investments in infrastructure, Ontario’s big city mayors believe that, although all levels of government are working to create jobs and grow the economy, too often this is still done in isolation. We're in need of a diverse and robust jobs strategy for Ontario and Canada with clear actions to address labour market reform through skills training, apprenticeship reforms, immigration reform, and expansion of international trade and foreign direct investment through a new coordinated trade agenda shared by federal, provincial, and municipal governments.
While we need to invest in the roads and pipes that keep our cities working, we also need to consider the basic needs of the people who live there. Affordable housing is a critical issue affecting cities across Canada. With housing markets in overdrive, many Canadians are priced out of our major cities, and indeed, many of our smaller ones. Worse, low-income Canadians cannot find housing at all and face long wait times for social housing. Rents in Barrie, for example, are the seventh highest in Canada. Our wait-list for social housing is more than 1,500 households long in a city of 55,000 households. Low-income seniors face a wait of up to five years for a unit. This is not acceptable in a modern Canadian city.
Municipalities are ready to work with our provincial and federal partners to solve the housing crisis. According to FCM, public investments in housing are one of the best ways to grow our economy. For every dollar invested in housing, Canada earns $1.40 in GDP. In collaboration with FCM, we are calling for a comprehensive national housing strategy that provides for greater policy coordination, collaboration, and the necessary resources for actions and results.
In addition, there are innovative approaches to affordable home ownership that can be explored through federal tax policy that support lower-income families, give them pride of ownership, and build equity. Some examples include down payment assistance grants, renovation cost credits for adding secondary suites to existing housing, and removing the GST on certain housing-related costs such as construction materials for affordable housing. But it is only through a meaningful investment in capital projects in the affordable housing sector that we can address this crisis.
In closing, the Ontario big city mayors face the same issues that face Canadians across the country. To move forward, we believe we must put investment in infrastructure at the heart of our national economic strategy.
Overcoming Canada's biggest challenges requires close collaboration among all levels of government. Ontario's big cities look forward to true collaboration and partnership with the newly elected government in working together to move forward with this shared agenda.
I thank you, Mr. Chair.