b' $13.5 million per year to make the National Building Codesfree to access and to modernize codes, including by reducing barriers to internal trade and aligning building codes across thecountry.HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MARCH 2024 ONTARIO BUDGET, BUILDING A BETTER ONTARIO:AcceleratingOntarios PlantoBuild, the most ambitious capital plan in the provinces history, by investing more than $190billion over the next 10years to build and expand highways, transit, homes, high-speed internet and other critical infrastructure that will support economic growth.Increasing funding for housing-enabling municipal infrastructure projects by investing $1billion in the new Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program, dedicated to core infrastructure projects and quadrupling the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund to $825million for municipal water infrastructure projects that would enable new housing.Addressing Ontarios housing supply crisis by rewarding municipalities that achieve their housing targets with funding from the three-year, $1.2-billion BuildingFasterFund. ONTARIO SUPPORTING WOMEN ATWORKThe Ontario government introduced theWorking for Workers Five Act, 2024, building on its previous four Working for Workers acts. The act contains a suite of measures to support workers, including requiring that menstrual products be provided on larger construction sites and mandating that washrooms are clean and sanitary. The legislation, the first of its kind in Canada, would make the skilled trades more accessible to women and support women at work.ONTARIO MAKING IT EASIER TO ENTER SKILLED TRADESThe Ontario government is introducing new policy and legislative measures to attract more young people to the skilled trades, including adding a new apprenticeship pathway and an online job-matching platform. These initiatives are designed to promote the skilled trades to youth and workers and help set them on a path to rewarding, well-paying careers as electricians, plumbers, carpenters and other skilled trades.ONTARIO HELPING JOBSEEKERS AND CRACKING DOWN ON EXPLOITATIVE EMPLOYERSThe Ontario government is proposing legislative changes that would make the hiring process fairer for jobseekers who are trying to get into the workforce and that would get tougher on exploitative employers by increasing maximum fines for violating theEmployment Standards Act(ESA) to the highest levelin Canada.ACCESS CANADA SPRING/SUMMER 2024 9'