Ontario PCs, making the province open for business

Investing in Ontario starts with the Making Ontario Open for Business Act

One of our government’s most important promises to the people of Ontario was that we would work hard every day to keep, and create, good jobs here at home.

The previous Liberal government buried our job creators in regulation, piling significant costs on companies and stifling job creation.

We’ve met with many businesses to talk about Ontario’s red tape problem.

They’ve told us loud and clear that the regulatory burden is getting worse every year — while at the same time, our competitors are making it lighter.

This week, we’re delivering on that promise.

We took steps to reduce the red tape that’s squeezing the businesses we count on to keep and create these good jobs.

The Making Ontario Open for Business Act is going to make it easier to start and grow a business, and to invest in Ontario. We are getting government out of the way of job creators.

We need to cut red tape so companies that create jobs, and give back to their communities, can grow and prosper.

If passed, this legislation will remove high-cost regulatory burdens for businesses while maintaining strong protections for workers.

It will broadly repeal the job-killing changes to employment standards that the previous Liberal government made through Bill 148.

It will also fix rules that prevent businesses from hiring as many skilled tradespeople as they need. For example, if a construction company needs drywall finishers and plasterers, it’s required to hire three journeypersons for every apprentice it hires.

This regulatory ratio reduces the number of people who become apprentice drywallers — even though they’re in great demand. We’ll lower the ratios across the board to 1:1 so businesses can hire more apprentices.

And we’re just getting started.

In the years ahead, we’ll continue to work hard to get government out of the way of job creators.

We’ll make it cheaper, faster and easier to do business, and help put Ontario back on track as a growth leader in North America.

Ontario is open for business.

COLE BURSTON THE CANADIAN PRESS Caroline Mulroney, Attorney General of Ontario, left, and Jim Wilson, minister of economic development, are seen as the legislature sits inside Queens Park in Toronto.