Scarborough Centre Multifaith Iftar

I’m grateful to St. Jude’s Anglican Church for hosting the Scarborough Centre Multifaith Iftar in March. t’s in moments like these we remember those less fortunate, and it was so inspiring to see people of different faiths come together to share a meal. Thank you to all that participated.

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International Women’s Day in Scarborough Centre

Our annual celebration of International Women’s Day in Scarborough Centre is always an inspiring day for me. I’m grateful for all the amazing women who came to share their stories – you are truly an inspiration. And thank you to everyone – women and allies – who came out and showed solidarity to our continuing fight for equity.

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Happy Easter!

In March, many in Scarborough celebrated Easter at the end of March. I would like to wish all those celebrating in Scarborough, across Canada and around the world a Happy Easter. For Christians, this is a holy time — a time to gather, reflect, spend quality time with our families, and lend a hand to those who need it most. My family and I extend our warmest wishes for a blessed and joyous Easter.

Canadians deserve access to quality, affordable dental care

Oral health is essential to Canadian’s overall health, yet a third of the people living in Canada do not have dental insurance. And in 2022, one in four Canadians reported avoiding visiting an oral health professional because of the cost.

That’s why we created the Canadian Dental Care Plan.

Learn more: Canadian Dental Care Plan

Back 2 Basickz supporting youth in Scarborough

Happy to have met the youth supported by the Back 2 Basickz program. Congratulations to the team for this initiative. It’s always reassuring to know that our community does not lack for individuals and organizations working towards empowerment of racialized, vulnerable youth.

Recognizing the month of Ramadan

As Muslims in Scarborough, across Canada and around the world celebrated Ramadan, I shared a message for peace in the House of Commons.

Save the date: Community cleanup 2024

As part of Earth Day, join us for a community cleanup!

Date: Saturday April 20, 2024

Time: 10AM to Noon

Location: Jack Goodlad Park, 929 Kennedy Road

Save the date: Youth Job Fair 2024

We invite all local youth to join us for our annual youth job fair. Meet local employers, gain useful job hunting and career skills, and access important employment services.

Date: Saturday April 27, 2024

Time: Noon to 5:00 PM

Location: Grace Place, 1428 Kennedy Road

Let’s feed hungry children at school

The Canada Child Benefit has lifted 650,000 kids out of poverty since we took office. That’s a good start, but there is still more to do.

Today, one in four children do not get enough food in Canada. This impacts their health and their opportunities to learn and grow. By investing in a National School Food Program, we are building on our promise to help kids, especially vulnerable kids, in Canada.

This significant investment will help provide meals to about 400,000 kids every year and give parents the peace of mind that their kids are taken care of and never go hungry. This program will help provinces, territories, and Indigenous governments expand their existing school food program and help ensure that children across Canada are fed and happy.

This is about fairness for every generation, from kids, to parents, and the grandparents who also help out.

Learn more: A National School Food Program to set kids up for success

More $10/day child care spaces

Our Canada-wide early learning and child care system has cut fees to $10-a-day in eight provinces and territories, and by half everywhere else.

But not enough families have access to affordable spaces — so we are building more.

Our new child care expansion will deliver over $1 billion in loans and grants to build more child care spaces. We’re also making sure rural communities get the childcare they need. By forgiving student loans for early childhood educators in rural and remote areas, we’re incentivizing educators to work in those communities. And we’re increasing training for early childhood educators and supporting more research to improve child care.

By building more child care spaces, and attracting and training more child care workers, we’re making sure more young families can save money with affordable child care.

Learn more: More $10-a-day child care spaces

Protecting renters and helping them become homeowners

Renters deserve protection from steep rent hikes, renovictions, or bad landlords. With our new Canadian Renters’ Bill of Rights and our new Tenant Protection Fund, they won’t have to face these challenges alone.

We’re protecting renters’ rights by:

* Launching a new Canadian Renters’ Bill of Rights to protect them from unfair rent hikes, renovictions, and bad landlords.

* Creating a new $15 million Tenant Protection Fund so they don’t have to fight landlords alone.

* And we’re unlocking pathways for renters to become homeowners by helping you get credit for on-time rent payments. This will make it easier to qualify for a mortgage, and even for a lower rate.

But the federal government cannot do it alone. We need provinces like Ontario to stop being gatekeepers and work with us to build more housing people can afford and ensure tenants are protected.

Increasing access to affordable rental housing

One of the biggest pressures on Canadians right now is housing, and this is particularly true for everyone who rents their home, including younger Canadians.

We’re working to make the rental market fairer by launching a new $1.5 billion Canada Rental Protection Fund to protect affordable housing and create thousands of new affordable apartments.

That means, more apartments for seniors; students; and families – at prices they can afford. We’re working to make the rental market fairer so every generation can get ahead.

Learn more: Protecting and expanding affordable housing

Investment to unlock housing construction

 One of the biggest pressures on Canadians right now is housing, and this is particularly true for everyone who rents their home, including younger Canadians.

We’re taking action. Our government is unlocking housing construction by delivering a $15 billion top-up to the Apartment Construction Loan Program. This funding will help create over 131,000 new homes for Canadians within the next decade.

That’s more homes for seniors; more homes for students; and more homes for young families to raise their kids.

This is a Team Canada effort – and we’re encouraging partners across the country to work with us to get more homes built, faster.

Learn more: Unlocking housing construction and launching Canada Builds

Helping communities like Toronto build more housing faster

One of the biggest challenges for young people right now is housing – we need to make sure everyone can afford a home. Part of that is about increasing housing supply across the country.

Our government is helping communities build the infrastructure needed to build more homes, by investing $6 billion through our new Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund, and topping up the Housing Accelerator Fund with $400 million.

Growing communities need quality infrastructure in order to build more homes, faster – and our government is there to support them with these generational investments.

Learn more: Growing communities and building more homes, faster