Thursday, January 22, 2026

Mr. Anand Misir

Good afternoon. My name is Anand Misir. I am the CEO of Access2Pay. We do enterprise payment platforms for municipalities here in Ontario, notably the city of Brampton and the town of Oakville. What I want to talk about here today is share things that we see as a team, dealing with municipalities on the front lines on a daily basis and interacting with municipalities at trade shows, like ROMA earlier this week. We work in the back-end stuff—the plumbing, the things you don’t really see in terms of the revenue collection process. What we are seeing is a hidden crisis that is costing this province millions, if not tens of millions, of dollars. I’ve talked to municipal finance officers across the province, from small townships to major urban centres like the city of Brampton, and I’m seeing the same thing. We’re seeing highly skilled public servants spending 30% to 40% of their day or week doing manual entry. I see them taking payments from the citizen in one system and then manually entering that data or sifting through a receipt and then manually entering it into a different system because those two systems don’t talk to each other. We talk a lot about red tape for businesses, but there is an internal red tape inside municipal machinery, government machinery. This manual reconciliation is a bottleneck that slows down housing permits, slows down business licences and very much frustrates citizens. There is a growing gap between what citizens expect and what local governments are able to provide them. Citizens are able to buy a coffee, book a flight, trade stocks from their phone in seconds. But when it comes time to pay for a municipal permit or a provincial fee, they often hit a wall: PDF forms, confusing portals or even multiple portals to choose from. When I talk to municipal leaders, especially at ROMA here earlier this week, they want to fix this. They know if they could automate payments and get rid of this manual entry, they could deploy staff to actually help people to answer phones, process applications faster, but they’re trapped by old, expensive legacy systems. How do we fix this in the 2026 budget? The recommendation is not just to fund computers; create funding streams specifically for API innovation and automation to get rid of these manual processes and to give municipalities the resources to connect systems so data flows automatically. I encourage ministries and municipalities to work with agile, Canadian tech companies. These big, monolithic companies like Deloitte, CGI, Oracle over the past 20 years have left us with these disconnected systems. The future is modular, flexible tech that plugs into systems that these municipalities and agencies already have. To conclude, the technology to fix these efficiencies already exists right here in Ontario. We don’t need to invent anything new, we just need to make everyone aware that these solutions exist and make those solutions accessible to all sizes of municipalities from small to large. I’d recommend that this budget focuses on operational modernization. Let’s stop paying humans to talk to computers and start using computers to free up humans to serve the citizens. Thank you.

Official source

The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

Thank you very much. Our next presenter is Parks and Recreation Ontario.

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Ms. Sarah Ane

Good afternoon, Chair and committee members, and thank you for the opportunity to present today. I am Sarah Ane, director of policy and partnerships with Parks and Recreation Ontario, also known as PRO. We are a non-profit association with over 7,000 members from across the province including post-secondary students, municipal staff, community agencies, independent operators and more. Collectively, our members provide parks and recreation services to over 85% of Ontario’s population. Along with our members, we champion the health, social, economic and environmental benefits of parks and recreation. As the largest provincial organization representing the interests of the sector, we are well positioned to guide the province in making informed investments that will contribute to building strong communities that are healthier, more sustainable and better equipped for Ontario’s future. I wanted to start by gratefully acknowledging the recent investments that are positively supporting our sector and already making a marked impact; those are highlighted in our budget submission that you have a copy of. As the province continues towards building millions of new homes, it is vitally important that corresponding investments are made in parks and recreation. An investment in our sector is an investment in public health, emergency management, environmental preservation, economic growth and so much more. If implemented, our recommendations will support healthy, livable and complete communities. Currently, Ontario’s parks and recreation infrastructure assets have served communities long past their expected life span. At least 44% of Ontario’s assets that are recreation and sport-based were built a minimum of 25 years ago. In 2024, the introduction of the Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund represented a new era of investment. However, the initial funding allocation of $200 million over three years was insufficient in addressing the $9.5-billion sport and recreation infrastructure backlog in Ontario.

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The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

One minute.

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Ms. Sarah Ane

Building modern-day sport and recreation facilities comes at a significant cost. While PRO members were proud recipients of nearly 70% of the allocated funding, the program was significantly oversubscribed with over 500 applications representing $1.1 billion in funding requests. This means that 82% of the requested dollars were unable to be funded through the program. Continuation and expansion of this funding program will ensure that municipalities and community organizations are supported in providing Ontarians with access to quality recreation and sport infrastructure. The critical importance of additional investment and reopening of the Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund in 2026 cannot be overstated. This funding has already delivered real, tangible results. Funding over 90 sport and recreation infrastructure projects all contributing to safer—

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The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

That concludes the time, and hopefully we can get the rest of it in the questions. Our next presenter will be the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp.

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

Good afternoon, Chair and members. My name is D’Arcy Wilson. I’m the vice-president of operations for the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. It’s a not-for-profit corporation under a long-term agreement with the government of Canada to operate and maintain the Canadian assets of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The St. Lawrence Seaway is a system of lakes, canals and 15 locks—13 in Canada, two in the US—between Saint-Lambert, on the south shore of Montreal, and the entrance of the Welland Canal in Port Colborne and Lake Erie. Ontario assets include eight locks, nine lift bridges along the Welland Canal and a single lock in Iroquois on the St. Lawrence River. The seaway is parter of a larger Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system that includes the Great Lakes ports, enabling international trade via the St. Lawrence River. All together, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system generates $66.1 billion in economic activity by moving 252.1 million tonnes of cargo worth $157.2 billion. It supports more than 350,000 jobs and creates $23.2 billion in wages. This year, 37 million tonnes of goods passed through the seaway to domestic and international markets. The key commodities include grain and sugar; fertilizer, such as potash; iron ore, steel and aluminum; cement and gypsum used for drywall for construction; oversized pieces of equipment, such as wind turbine components; salt to keep the roadway safe in winter; and liquid bulk, such as various petroleum products. The seaway has the capacity to double its throughput immediately. Moving more goods in the water can help to ease the congestion on busy Ontario highways and rail networks. One Seawaymax vessel carries the equivalent tonnage of 301 railcars and 963 transport trucks. SLSMC is working closely with industry partners to further extend our navigation season, and to support the increased movements of containers and Canadian energy. The Ontario marine strategy has called for the strengthening of marine’s position in the province’s multi-modal network, support for infrastructure, economic development and greening of marine transportation. Seaway Wharf 18, located at Port Colborne, is on the west bank of the Welland Canal—where the seaway meets Lake Erie—and is a shovel-ready, multi-modal infrastructure project. It will add an additional one million tonnes of cargo-handling capacity, open new cruise ship berthing to boost regional tourism and provide economic development opportunities for the city of Port Colborne, the Niagara region and the province of Ontario. With adjacent road and rail connections, the potential for green shore power and employment opportunities for skilled trades workers, Wharf 18 represents all the pillars of the Ontario marine strategy. The project received $22.6 million from the National Trade Corridors Fund. It requires additional funding to realize its full use. It’s a prime candidate for provincial support in the budget of 2026, which would be combined with investment from the federal government and the private sector. New housing and improved road connections are also major priorities for the government of Ontario. Our nine lift bridges, including a rail crossing, on the Welland Canal, provide vital connections to growing communities across the Niagara region, which is projected to grow from 539,000 to approximately 694,000 citizens by 2050. The SLSMC is planning to renew the Glendale Avenue bridge, a key east-west connection between the city of St. Catharines and the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. The bridge was originally built nearly 100 years ago to serve rural traffic at the time; today, the bridge carries an average annual daily traffic volume of 14,000 vehicles. As a federal asset, the bridge renewal project is funded by the government of Canada. Federal support, however, is limited to the construction of a two-lane bridge consistent with the current configuration of the existing structure. In response to feedback from local municipalities and bridge users, SLSMC is seeking funding support from the province of Ontario to enable the construction of additional lanes to support additional transit service and vehicular traffic. This expanded configuration would significantly enhance the connectivity between St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake, and the planned growth of Glendale east, as identified by the Niagara region. In closing, marine transportation is safe, scalable and low-emission. We welcome every effort to optimize multi-modal connections like Wharf 18 in Port Colborne, build new community connections like the renewed Glendale bridge and promote the movement of goods on water on the Welland Canal and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Thank you very much for your attention.

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The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

Thank you very must for the presentation, and that concludes the presentations. We’ll now start with the first round of questioning and it’s the third party. MPP Cerjanec.

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Mr. Rob Cerjanec

Thank you for your presentations today. D’Arcy, it’s fantastic work that this seaway corporation is doing—and how critical it is, as you mentioned, to the moving of goods throughout Ontario, internationally, throughout the Great Lakes. Being able to get traffic off our roads, freeing up rail capacity: I think it’s a good thing at the end of the day and benefits the entire region and benefits the entire province. In terms of the two projects that you’re looking for provincial support on, do you know what the dollar amounts are on those?

Official source

Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

Wharf 18 is approximately $45 million, of which we have $22 million from the federal government, so we’re looking to close that gap. Bridge 5—I have to get back to you on that one. I can’t remember off the top of my head. I’ll have to get back to you.

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Mr. Rob Cerjanec

Okay. Is there anything else coming into the future that you folks might be looking for, whether it’s related to the assets that you operate or own or more broadly in Ontario, that we need to do to incentivize economic development? Collocating, shipping facility, ports—what else do we need to do?

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

Well, we have a substantial asset renewal program that evaluates all the assets. Whether it’s a lock, a bridge, a waterway, pathways, we evaluate it all. As you can appreciate, in the Welland Canal area, it’s all almost 100 years old. So this program is quite extensive and has projections up to 20 years on the renewable structures that we need to maintain the seaway as a viable trade corridor. That includes the wharfs, like we’re asking for, Wharf 18 specifically. Those types of wharfs work very well when we can get trade and entrepreneurial ownership into these areas and start to trade. We have lots of opportunities into the future.

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Mr. Rob Cerjanec

I know there’s a lot of work happening with the Ontario marine strategy and a lot of conversations. It’s kind of ironic; we used to ship quite a lot before. That used to be the main mode that we moved goods, and then we kind of transitioned a lot more to trucks. We’re seeing the impacts of that. To actually be able to go back to shipping on the Great Lakes—I mean, obviously we can’t do it year-round, just given the ice constraints, but I think it’s something that’s really smart and really good for Ontario’s economy and our economic prosperity going into the future. Have you folks been impacted by some of the global instability right now, or are you seeing opportunities and benefits coming out of it?

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

I wouldn’t say opportunities and benefits. Obviously, we were nervous going into this last navigation season, and now we sit here at the end of the navigation season and the cargoes that we moved were pretty much aligned with what we achieved last year, so we haven’t really seen necessarily an impact. The distribution of cargoes is different, but the actual total volume of cargo—we’ve seen a big uptick in western grain coming through, as an example, and that’s compensated for some losses, let’s say in steel. You’re all familiar with the tariff discussions.

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Mr. Rob Cerjanec

I know it’s not directly related—well, I guess in some ways, because you’d be dealing with ships that would be passing through. But in Sault Ste. Marie, the opportunity for a new port there—I know the Hamilton Oshawa Port Authority is doing consulting work on that right now. That, I think, will provide a fantastic benefit to be able to, again support steelmaking operations there and, again, Ontario’s economic future prosperity. Are you folks involved? I guess you might be in conversations around that.

Official source

Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

No, unfortunately. The ports operate as separate entities and the seaway operates—we work together where there’s definitely overlap. We’re working with HOPA in the Port Colborne area and some other projects up and down the Welland Canal, but the Sault St. Marie project is wholly separate.

Official source

The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

One minute.

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Mr. Rob Cerjanec

You’ve mentioned, just to get this correct, we have the capacity to double throughput right now?

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

Correct.

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Mr. Rob Cerjanec

So there’s a lot of opportunity in the future.

Official source

Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

Correct.

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Mr. Rob Cerjanec

Okay. Thank you very much. Sarah, important stuff, parks and recreation—we’ve got aging assets. We’ve got growing communities. I guess, in your estimation, we’re not really able to meet that demand right now, right?

Official source

Ms. Sarah Ane

That’s correct. The most common feedback we have received from our members is that they’re struggling to keep up with their buildings. They’re aging. They either need to be replaced outright, or they need to be heavily repaired in order to ensure that they’re accessible to all of the users. Many of the buildings in Ontario were built during the centennial era, so we’re seeing arenas and swimming pools at the end of their lifespan or exceeding it at this point. It’s a real struggle for our members to find the funds to do the repairs that are necessary. The Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund isn’t very helpful—

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The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

Thank you very much. That concludes the time for that question. MPP Brady.

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Ms. Bobbi Ann Brady

Thank you to all of our presenters. D’Arcy, I’ll start with you. I travel the highways all the time. From a safety standpoint, the statistics are stark. You know, we have a 40,000-kilogram vehicle sharing the road with a 1,500-kilogram vehicle and we know that creates inherent risks. As you alluded to, every ton of cargo moved by a seaway vessel is a ton that doesn’t require a truck sharing your lane in a snowstorm or in heavy rain. I’m a believer in the marine advantage because systems like the St. Lawrence Seaway are also user-pay systems. The ships pay for their locks and the maintenance through tolls, whereas highway expansion and reconstruction are often or always funded by the taxpayer. Saying all that, and given that a seaway-sized vessel can carry the equivalent load of nearly 1,000 tractor-trailers, what is your current strategy for quantifying the hidden cost savings to the public, such as the projected $4.6 billion in avoided highway maintenance costs, in order to better incentivize shippers to move goods through you instead of on our already congested highways?

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

Honestly, I can’t tell you at this point. I’d have to get back to you on that specific—I’m not familiar with trucking costs. I will say that the fees that are collected from tolls are used to run the seaway. It pays for the management corporations, wages and operating costs. That’s how we fund the seaway. The assets are owned by the federal government. The comparison with trucking—I’d have to get back to you on that.

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Ms. Bobbi Ann Brady

Are you upping your game with respect to convincing folks to move product via the seaway?

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

Yes, we have a very strong marketing department that we’ve also—

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The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

One minute.

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

—tied in with our commercial partners. And yes, we do have a marketing department. We have incentives for new business, new cargo. We don’t own any assets that carry the cargoes—they’re all owned by carriers—but we act, as one of my peers would say, as a catalyst. If there’s a cargo in one spot and a shipper in another spot, we try to bring them together and see if they can make a commercial deal to use the seaway and ship by sea.

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Ms. Bobbi Ann Brady

And do you know what someone’s barrier might be for moving products via the seaway as opposed to transport?

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

As opposed to highway, typically, it’s accessibility. Seaway, you go to a port. We don’t have the depth to reach into the land. That’s why we have to partner with multi-modal operators like rail and truck to get the product from the dockside into the cities and towns.

Official source

Ms. Bobbi Ann Brady

Great. Thank you.

Official source

The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

MPP Saunderson.

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Mr. Brian Saunderson

Thank you to each of our presenters today for taking the time and braving the elements to come and share your expertise and thoughts with us. I’m going to start with you, Sarah. PRO does great work across the province. I’m familiar with that through my municipal involvement. In fact, it was a recreation facility that launched me in this political career. So I wanted drill down a bit with you. I appreciate your written materials and your acknowledgements of our $200-million commitment for our infrastructure over the next three years, as well as the $60-million investment to work on parks and recreation. Certainly, we saw through the pandemic the importance of getting outside for people’s mental health and well-being. I think I recall from my days working on the facility, the stat at the time was $1 invested in recreational activity saves about $15 in future care. I’m sure that number is much bigger now. I wanted to get your thoughts, then, on what you’re seeing—the pressures with your members, starting, really, from the municipal angle, because municipalities play an important role but not all can provide bricks and mortars in my area. The YMCA is a huge contributor, but after the pandemic, the Simcoe-Muskoka district YMCA I think shut down two of their five facilities. So are you seeing those kinds of pressures across the board?

Official source

Ms. Sarah Ane

Thank you for the question. Yes, we are certainly seeing pressures beyond just infrastructure. Delivering programming is also a considerable challenge, with the cost of materials and inflation impacting everything that we do, from turning on the lights to ensuring that we have equipment in our facilities. Obviously, municipalities are feeling that, but we represent all types of providers across Ontario, including YMCAs, Boys and Girls Clubs, private operators as well. They’re all expressing that concern. We do feel that parks and recreation opportunities, programs, services are probably one of the number one health care prevention tools out there. We heard lots of great comments from the cardiologist prior. We’d like to help contribute to reducing those health care costs by ensuring that people are active and living healthy lifestyles across Ontario, regardless of where they live. So, yes, I would agree that there are some limitations that our members are feeling right now, and we want to ensure that they have the funding they need to continue to deliver programs and services to all Ontarians regardless of age, ability, geography.

Official source

Mr. Brian Saunderson

Our local rink, the Collingwood community rink called the Eddie Bush arena, goes back to 1948. It was a big community project built after the war. It was built when our shipyards were in full flight and, in fact, I’d love to take you through it. It’s an upside-down ship, so when you look at it from the inside up at the rafters, it’s the construction of a ship, just upside down. You’ve commented about accessibility and updating issues and infrastructure like that—all a very difficult burden for the municipality given the types of expenses they’ve had to do. So I know in a number of my communities, they’re looking at pooling resources to create a regional hub that would serve not just one municipality but a number. Are you seeing that kind of collaboration and openness to partnerships in your area?

Official source

Ms. Sarah Ane

We certainly are, where possible. There’s a number of groups right now that are talking about regional aquatic facilities, specifically, in Ontario. Those are under a lot of pressure all over Ontario and Canada. So where municipalities are able to pull resources or collaborate in a 3P type of partnership, whether it be a YMCA in a municipality—there’s a great example in the Trent Hills area recently that just opened up a facility out there in collaboration; we need to collaborate where we can. Not all communities have that ability, especially our more rural, remote, northern communities. They may not have a partner in that area that can deliver the services and the programs, so it does fall back to the municipality sometimes.

Official source

Mr. Brian Saunderson

And in terms, then, of service delivery, you’ve talked about the almost—

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The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

One minute.

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Mr. Brian Saunderson

—$44-million investment for three years to continue the after-school program. It does sound like such a great opportunity to me. How are they faring in the current economics?

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Ms. Sarah Ane

A number of our PRO members are delivery agencies for Ontario’s After-School Program, so we certainly appreciate that infusion as well and, mainly, the three-year commitment that the province made. That’s the first time we’ve ever seen a multi-year commitment. That’s huge, because they can plan appropriately and ensure that the money is stretching as far as possible. But we are seeing, again, impact from inflation, facility cost—all of those things that are impacting their ability to continue to deliver the program, so a continual increase in that program is very much welcome and appreciated. But it’s having such a huge impact: 43,000 kids in Ontario are using that program every year.

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The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

Thank you. MPP Gates.

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MPP Wayne Gates

I’m going to start with Sarah just quickly. If you want to get elected in the province of Ontario and you’re a city councillor, invest in your parks. That’s probably what you should do. When I was a city councillor in Niagara Falls, that was one of our big agendas. Today, in Chippawa—which is in Niagara Falls, just down the road here—they’re going to have a big investment of well over $10 million, which the provincial government participated in. But now it’s going to be an arena, it’s going to be pickleball; they’re going to have soccer and baseball. Pickleball is now the new sport of seniors, right? Everybody plays pickleball. But the one thing that you didn’t mention in your presentation is if seniors are active, it keeps them more healthy and it cuts down on the health care costs. I think that’s something that maybe you should raise as you’re doing your presentation—as you’re asking the government. Because if they stay healthy, it keeps them out of our hospitals and it cuts down on their cost for health care. It’s a win-win-win; it’s a win for your organization, it’s a win for the government and, quite frankly, it’s a win for old guys like me too, so it works out well. I just wanted to say that before I go and talk to the seaway. I think I asked you this question at one of the openings, on captain’s day when he christens the first boat and all that stuff—but I want to say, my good friend Sam Pane’s right back here. Sam worked on my first campaign, which we won, so if the Conservatives want to blame anybody, blame Sam, because he was incredible. But I just wanted to say, and I asked you before: Yes, it’s great that we’re using the seaway, getting cars off for the environment. But I asked you a question, not that many years ago—although you couldn’t tell by today—has there been any movement on thinking to—I know you’re making it longer. Is there any consideration of making it run year-round?

Official source

Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

Yes, there is. There’s lots of discussion about year-round. We’re actually doing a lot of analysis of what it would take, both on the operating side of it but as well as on the investment side of the infrastructure to be able to operate. We had a little bit of that exposure—if you’ve been watching, we had a struggle this past year with our closing and we had a lot of ice conditions. It’s those conditions that remind us what it takes to move ships through winter operations and ice through the locks and canals.

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MPP Wayne Gates

But it is something that you’ve been considering for a while.

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

It is something that we are looking at on the horizon. We’ve taken feedback from the industry that are very keen on year-round navigation, so we’re in the process of evaluating that.

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MPP Wayne Gates

And when you talk about tourism, there are a lot of people that would love to go and watch the boats pass through the locks. But one thing that you’ve added since the last time you were here is they’re getting bigger—and maybe you can talk a little bit about it, it’s cruise ships, coming through the locks.

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

So the cruise ships are very—they’re not necessarily new. What’s new is the number that have come in, the newer vessels, and in fact if you’ve seen the Viking ships—the Octantis and the Polaris—they were actually built for the hands-free mooring system that we use. So they’ve accommodated our system of lockages. So the cruise industry is responding to our needs, but it’s also responding to the community. They see lots of upside, and they continue to respond in a positive manner. That’s why Wharf 18 is part of that investment for the cruise ships and boosting tourism in the region.

Official source

MPP Wayne Gates

And I think it’s fair to say that you’re a good employer. You provide a lot of jobs—

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

We hope—we like to think so.

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MPP Wayne Gates

Well, it’s a unionized workplace—

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

Correct.

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MPP Wayne Gates

—and has been for a long time. I’ve been there when there’s been strikes; I’ve been there when there’s been bargaining, but the employees never leave, so that’s usually an indication that you’re treating the workers good, and that’s always important to me. And they do a great job for you too, as you know.

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

They do.

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MPP Wayne Gates

From your perspective, how has the government’s failure to invest adequately in marine infrastructure limited Ontario’s ability to shift goods from trucks to low-carbon shipping, which is important for our environment?

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The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

One minute.

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

I can’t say how it’s done, I can just tell you that we have a program that looks at low-carbon initiatives within the St. Lawrence Seaway. We adopt the Green Marine strategy, if you’re familiar with that, which is also driving to respond to one of our environmental programs.

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MPP Wayne Gates

Just because I’ve only got a couple of seconds, and we’ll give you a chance to answer. How many employees do you have at the seaway?

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

At the seaway? It fluctuates, but right now it’s about 485, plus or minus 10 depending on—

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MPP Wayne Gates

It’s a major employer in Niagara.

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

Oh, in Niagara, it’s about 220, 225.

Official source

MPP Wayne Gates

Okay, well thanks for being here today, and take good care of my buddy Sam, all right?

Official source

Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

He’s just down the hall from me. I’ve got to.

Official source

The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

We’ll now go to MPP Smyth.

Official source

MPP Stephanie Smyth

Thank you so much. It’s nice to hear from all of you today. Just thinking about the seaway in the wintertime makes me feel chills. But, hey, if you could get things moving all year round, what would that take? What kind of investment would it take, do you think, to see that actually happen?

Official source

Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

In the long term? We operate right now—I’m just going to put it in perspective—in millions. To do that is probably in the billions, to make it happen year-round with minimal ice conditions. Because it’s not just the seaway; it’s all the other agencies that are required, too, right? We use the coast guard. We use the pilotage services. We use—well, two pilotages. And it’s not just us. Just to be clear, there are two US locks. It’s a binational seaway, and therefore we have to negotiate and work with our US partners to make an extension of the season to year-round navigation possible.

Official source

MPP Stephanie Smyth

And in peak time, what’s the traffic like on the seaway in terms of ships and—

Official source

Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

The Welland Canal, on an average peak day, will see 18 to 20 vessels go through a day. On a busy day, after a wind event, you can see up to 25, 26. Full throughput is 24 a day. It’s what we plan on.

Official source

MPP Stephanie Smyth

Wow. So what do you see as some infrastructure investments that you would see as being required to at least maintain the seaway’s competitiveness?

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

Well, right now, it’s really the reinvigoration of a lot of the infrastructure, particularly in the Welland. The Welland Canal is 100 years old. We do a very good job of assessing and providing our assessment to the government for their valuation and funding because they own the assets; we just manage them. So those types of reinvigoration. Bridge 5: Like I mentioned, there’s capacity there to grow with the community. We’re in the process right now of looking—we’ve got a life extension. We have a three-year project for life extension of bridge 5, but that’s just keeping it going. It does need replacement, and so that’s why we would see that into the future. And just on the side, there was an earlier question on bridge 5, if I may. I just was looking through my notes. There was a question on the cost of bridge 5. Right now, the current estimate is a two-lane bridge is going to cost $170 million. And to put it to a four-lane bridge, which would serve the community better, would cost $250 million. Therefore, the net difference, the incremental difference we’re looking for, is $80 million to serve the community better for the long term. It’s a single investment for another 100 years.

Official source

MPP Stephanie Smyth

So right now, for Wharf 18, you need $45 million. You have $22 million from the feds.

Official source

Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

Correct.

Official source

MPP Stephanie Smyth

Okay. I don’t know; how much time have I got?

Official source

The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

Two point three.

Official source

MPP Stephanie Smyth

That’s a lifetime. Okay, a quick question: How would capital investments in the seaway translate into economic returns for Ontario, for people who aren’t—

Official source

Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

All the investment in the seaway infrastructure—to give you an example, this year we’re going to spend $38 million to $40 million in the Niagara region. That will employ about 200 trades, contractors, our people, for about eight weeks.

Official source

MPP Stephanie Smyth

Okay. Thank you. I want to move to Sarah with Parks and Recreation Ontario. I’m an MPP from Toronto, Toronto–St. Paul’s. Talking about the overall state of parks and all the facilities, where does Toronto rank in terms of the need for improvement in the infrastructure that we have in our parks?

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Ms. Sarah Ane

I wouldn’t be able to answer that question right now. I would have to get some additional data and information specific to Toronto. Obviously, they are our largest member in Ontario, so we work quite closely with the city of Toronto. Certainly, we know, even looking at the school board conversation that’s been happening in Toronto and the aging infrastructure in swimming pools in Toronto being such a hot topic, that you’re not exclusive. You’re not in a position where you don’t have this issue.

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The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

One minute.

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Ms. Sarah Ane

And then also looking at outdoor space for green space; how, as you’re building up and intensifying, you’re ensuring there’s appropriate green space in that community as well.

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MPP Stephanie Smyth

You said so many communities have served past their lifespan. Just overall, biggest ask, you say 82% of requested dollars able to be funded. So what are you looking for right now of critical importance in prioritizing with this government today?

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Ms. Sarah Ane

We are looking for the Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund to reopen in 2026, as soon as possible, with additional funding. Our recommendation is $1 billion. We have a $9.5-billion backlog in Ontario right now. In this infrastructure alone, we rank second only to roads. We are not going to make a dent with $200 million, unfortunately. We are going to need additional help from both upper levels of government—

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The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

Thank you very much. That concludes the time. MPP Brady.

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Ms. Bobbi Ann Brady

Sarah, I’ll move over to you. I think you were here when the Niagara Home Builders’ Association was presenting. In response to one of my questions, the delegate said that we have to focus on needs, not wants and desires, and we should be exercising fiscal conservatism—no pun intended. But it’s not the time, he says, to invest in fancy arenas and recreational facilities. So I’m asking you, is there a way to empower participation without having to invest in fancy facilities?

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Ms. Sarah Ane

That’s a great question. Thank you. We absolutely at PRO and all of our members support homebuilding. People need homes to live in, but they also need complete communities where they can get outside, enjoy green space as well as recreate with one another. We know the benefits of recreation in people’s lives both from the health and social aspects. We saw it during the pandemic. So, my response to that would be that we can’t build a complete community without this infrastructure. It’s not just houses and pipes in the ground. Those are all important things and we need those, but we also need this infrastructure to be coupled with it or we will risk social isolation, we will risk chronic disease, we will continue to see all of those things rampant in our communities. The other MPP made a great comment about seniors and older adults being able to age in place at home. All of the things we offer through parks and recreation help them to do that. We want to give opportunities to youth to keep them busy and active in our communities, making the right healthy choices. So if we don’t have this infrastructure, what will happen? What choices will those people have?

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The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

One minute.

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Ms. Bobbi Ann Brady

I’m glad you mentioned green space, and I think that is a fiscally responsible way to expand recreation in our communities. But we do have a government who has passed a number of MZOs in this province. I’m just wondering, does that impact park space in Ontario? Does it erode the parkland dedication and community benefit charges that municipalities rely on to maintain and expand recreational opportunities in their communities?

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Ms. Sarah Ane

Thanks for that question. We’ve been very grateful to be seated at the table with MMAH over the last number of years, along with community stakeholders, to have that conversation around parkland dedication, the changes in legislation, as well as publicly owned private spaces, encumbered parkland—all the challenges that we have heard and seen continue to be in place and how we can ensure that legislation reflects how we are building our communities—

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The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

Thank you very much. That concludes the time. MPP Racinsky.

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Mr. Joseph Racinsky

Thank you to all the presenters for coming this afternoon. Anand, nice to see you again. I think we had a little chat at a different committee a few months ago. For my question, I’m going to talk to the St. Lawrence Seaway. It’s great to hear the enthusiasm from some of the opposition members about our shipbuilding and maritime systems in Ontario. It’s a priority for this government as well—$250 million committed so far to support Ontario’s shipbuilding and broader marine sector. Last year, we announced the $15-million Ontario Shipbuilding Grant Program so that we can get more shipbuilding happening in the province. Assuming this grant has the intended effect of seeing more shipbuilding take place in Ontario, does your organization see yourself equipped to handle that growing sector in the medium term?

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

Yes. The shipbuilding we can handle. Ontario Shipyards is at Port Weller, which is a leased land from the St. Lawrence Seaway. As they grow, there’s land there to be developed if they wish to grow their business and accommodate the growth in the shipbuilding industry, for sure.

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Mr. Joseph Racinsky

The port regions across Ontario are also vying for support in Canada’s maritime and defence needs, outlined in the National Shipbuilding Strategy. Is there a role for your organization in this? If so, what does that look like?

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

The main role would be just enabling the shipbuilding industry to run their dry docks, facilitate the ins and outs of ships. We are not in the shipbuilding industry per se, but we are partnered with that in the sense that, when they launch the vessels, if they happen to do it on the St. Lawrence Seaway, we work with them. For instance, Ontario Shipyards at Port Weller, Lock 1, we often have to stop traffic so they can move their ships in and out. We always do that; that’s a part of our normal business. So we help enable their business.

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Mr. Joseph Racinsky

And how can we support you with that?

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

We have investment opportunities in Port Weller. It’s part of our program. Just off the top of my head, I don’t know what they are, but I can tell you that we do have. It was the original docks that built the Welland Canal. All the gates you see there were built where Ontario Shipyards is today. I know that there’s mechanical investment that needs to happen, electrical investment—just general improvements, cranage, etc. Make it a more viable shipyard than it is today. It’s viable, but more could be done. There could be more added. The cranes and stuff that were operating have not been in use for decades and some of them are still there. Some of them they’ve taken down. But if that’s what they need, we’re willing to work with them as the landowner. Our representative for the government of Canada—we’re willing to work with them to see what those initiatives are and make it happen.

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Mr. Joseph Racinsky

Thanks. You know, I grew up in a bit of a nerdy family, so for a day trip, we would go and see the locks on the canal. That would be what we would do as a day trip.

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Mr. D’Arcy Wilson

So did I, as a little kid. I never thought I’d be running the place.

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The Chair (Hon. Ernie Hardeman)

Was that last week?

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Mr. Joseph Racinsky

No, it was a few years ago, but not too many years ago. Our government is also really focused on resilience, economic competitiveness in the face of international trade challenges. How can we better collaborate with you to attract greater economic activity and offset the economic difficulties we’re facing as a nation through an organization like yourself?

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