Niagara's Regional Chair is reacting to Ontario's budget saying council's hard work is paying off, but he's still worried about the impact of Bill 23.
Chair Jim Bradley says he is pleased to see advocacy on a number of issues has helped to motivate the provincial government to provide increases in funding.
He says when it comes to Niagara's EMS offload delays, the government will invest $51 million over the next three years to fund the offload nurse program.
"Regional Council has been tenacious in their advocacy on offload delays and it is heartening to see meaningful investments be made to address these challenges."
He says homelessness issues are also being addressed with the government committing to investing more in homelessness prevention and community mental health programs.
"Niagara, like many places across Ontario, continues to see the growing impacts of these challenges across our community and any new funding will be put to good use in the region."
GO Transit service in Niagara was also pointed out by the Finance Minister.
The region was described as a priority area for service expansion and the budget includes plans to build four new and improved station.
"While we await the final details on these programs and announcements, we are pleased to see our advocacy efforts paying off in terms of meaningful investments and policy decisions by the provincial government."
Bradley was not happy there wasn't additional funding offered to help municipalities deal with the impacts of Bill 23, which is meant to build more homes faster by giving developers a break on fees usually paid to municipalities.
Bradley says they will continue to seek support from the provincial government so they don't have to increase property taxes in Niagara.