Advocacy Wins 

Here you'll find our latest advocacy wins within the past year! Advocacy is one of our core principles where we shine. Through our large membership the Chamber advocates for the needs of our members and our community to all levels of government. 

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High-Speed VIA Rail Train

Strengthening Mental Health Accessibility in our Communities

Your local Chamber of Commerce has been calling for a return of a passenger rail service to Peterborough since 2013. On February 19, 2025, the Prime Minister announced that Canada is developing a high-speed rail network in the Toronto-Quebec City corridor. This rail network will connect Peterborough through the Toronto-Quebec City corridor and put Peterborough on the map as a destination of choice to travel and explore!

Please click here to out more about our advocacy efforts on this matter.

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Last year, our Chamber led a province-wide advocacy initiative with other Ontario Chambers to address the growing mental health and substance use crisis. Together, we coordinated a joint letter, sent to the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and to Hon. Michael Tibollo, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions—calling for urgent, sustainable investments and targeted action.

Key Recommendations:

• Create a centralized provincial database on homelessness, mental health, and addictions to improve service coordination and policymaking.
• Quantify the economic impact of the crisis, including health, emergency, social services, and business costs.
• Strengthen early-stage support by investing in prevention and early intervention using Ontario’s Roadmap to Wellness.
• Expand treatment capacity by building on recent investments and increasing province-wide access to care.

This initiative showcases your Chamber’s commitment to policies that build healthier, safer communities.

Please click here to read our policy resolution and the OCC's letter to Hon. Michael Tibollo Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. 

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Approved Policy Resolutions

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​Reducing Development Charges to Address Ontario’s Affordability Crisis

Issue: Ontario’s development charges (DCs) are fees municipalities charge to fund infrastructure like water, transit, and emergency services have risen dramatically, with some areas like Toronto seeing increases of nearly 1,000% since 2010. 

While DCs are intended to support “growth paying for growth,” they are now a major barrier to development. Smaller cities like Peterborough are almost doubling their charges, making new housing even more costly. This not only impacts affordability but also stalls job creation and economic growth tied to housing development.

Municipalities like Vaughan are setting a precedent by reducing DCs to stimulate housing construction. Ontario must follow suit.

Recommendations:

• Work with municipalities to narrow DCs to only necessary growth-related costs.
• Help municipalities cover infrastructure costs to reduce overreliance on DCs.

Please click here to read the full resolution.

ADVOCACY WIN:

Ask: In late 2024, we addressed the Government of Ontario to work with municipalities to narrow development charges to only cover necessary growth-related costs. 

Win:  In 2025, the Ontario Government announced through it's Protect Ontario by Building Faster & Smarter Act that it would be removing long-term care homes off of development charges. This is in line with our recommendation to narrow development charges to services that cover growth related costs. Long-term care homes are not growth- related therefore should not be covered under development charges.  

​Tackling Ontario’s Addictions, Homelessness, and Mental Health crisis

Issue: Ontario is facing a full-blown mental health crisis on our streets. An average of 7 people died from opioid use everyday in 2023, there are approximately over 200,000 people homeless in Ontario. Nearly every community in Ontario has experienced rising homelessness across the province.  

The financial and social toll is evident when emergency responses and hospital stays cost thousands per person, while businesses are left to manage the consequences. Yet local nonprofits and municipalities lack the long-term funding and infrastructure needed. 

Social issues are business issues and the Province must lead with sustainable investment in treatment, housing, and organizational planning.

Recommendations:

• Quantify the full economic cost of homelessness, mental illness, and addictions.
• Declare an emergency and create a province-wide action plan with measurable goals.
• Eliminate wait times by expanding treatment facilities and capital investments.
• Invest in supportive housing with long-term operating and capital funding.

Please click here to read the full resolution.

​Reduce the Administrative and Financial Burden for Family Physicians and Create Fair Recruitment Standards for Municipalities

Issue: Approximately 2.5 million people are currently without a family physician. In response to this, municipalities are left to compete against one another in recruiting family physicians to their respective municipalities, while family medicine itself has become increasingly unattractive due to high overhead costs, administrative burdens, and lower compensation.
Physicians are opting out of family practice for hospital-based roles with better pay and fewer responsibilities, and new medical graduates are following suit. Nearly 1 in 5 residency spots in family medicine went unfilled in 2024. Without action, nearly 25% of Ontarians could be without a doctor within two years.
To reverse this trend, the Province needs to reduce financial and administrative burdens for family doctors and facilitate an a fair system for communities trying to recruit them.

Recommendations:

• Create fair recruitment standards with limits on financial incentives for physician recruitment across municipalities, regardless of their economic capacity
• Reduce overhead costs and administration barriers for new physicians to make family medicine a more attractive practice

Please click here to read the full resolution

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Thank you to our 5 Star Leadership Members