Local Press Release

MPP Laura Smith announced the new Reena Seniors Active Living Centre (SALC) in Thornhill. This is one of the up to 100 new SALC programs opening across the province this year to help improve seniors’ quality of life and build community engagement. Reena is receiving $55,000 from the Ontario government to support their Seniors Active Living Centre.

Ontario is investing $20,000 through the 2025 Experience Ontario program to support the Vaughan Pizza and Stuffed Food Festival. This is part of a nearly $20 million investment in festivals and events across Ontario to help organizers expand programming and draw visitors to stay longer in local accommodations, eat in restaurants, shop at local retailers and support main street businesses. The announcement was made by the Member of Provincial Parliament for Thornhill, Laura Smith. 

On Monday, June 16th, 2025 Thornhill MPP Laura Smith visited JIAS Toronto to learn more about how the organization is benefiting from two grants from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF): a $68,000 Capital Grant and a $53,900 Seed Grant. These grants are helping JIAS enhance its physical space and streamline its internal operations to better serve immigrants and refugees across the GTA.

Ontario is investing $55,000 through the 2025 Experience Ontario
program to support the Vaughan International Film Festival. This is part of a nearly $20-
million investment in festivals and events across Ontario to help organizers expand
programming and draw visitors to stay longer in local accommodations, eat in
restaurants, shop at local retailers, and support main street businesses.

THORNHILL: On Wednesday evening, local MPP Laura Smith and Mayor David West were at the Plaza Suite at the Richmond Hill Centre for Performing Arts as High Notes Avante showcased it’s “Let’s Make Music!” program. MPP Smith also took the opportunity to formally congratulate the group on receiving a $78,800 Seed grant from the provincial government’s Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) last fall.

THORNHILL – The governments of Ontario and Canada are supporting 70 dairy processing businesses across Ontario through the Dairy Processing Modernization Initiative, providing cost-shared funding to help improve efficiency, capacity and food safety through their acquisition of modern ways of processing milk products. Some local dairy processors that are benefitting from this funding include:

THORNHILL — The Ontario government is investing $20,000,000.00 in critical infrastructure to facilitate the construction of up to 14,205 new homes in the City of Vaughan. The funding is being delivered through the Housing-Enabling Core Servicing Stream under the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program, which includes $400 million to help build, repair and maintain municipal roads, bridges and culverts that will promote housing growth in communities across Ontario.

VAUGHAN – Today, Laura Smith, MPP for Thornhill was joined by Stephen Lecce, MPP for King—Vaughan and Michael Tibollo, MPP for Vaughan—Woodbridge to announce that the Ontario government is making it faster and easier for young people to connect to mental health and substance use services by launching a net-new Youth Wellness Hub to serve youth in the City of Vaughan and surrounding areas. Located at the intersection of Jane Street and Rutherford Road in Maple, this is one of 10 new hubs the government is adding to the network of 22 hubs that will offer integrated mental health services to all youth at no cost.

On Monday, MPP Laura Smith met with representatives from the Food Bank of York Region (FBYR) to see the results of a $150,000 Capital grant from the provincial government’s Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF). Awarded in the fall of 2023, the Food Bank has been able to add to purchase a new 2025 Hino L8 refrigerated truck that will add to its fleet of trucks that are fighting food insecurity with every delivery made.

THORNHILL — The Ontario government is supporting an investment of $10,600,000 by Mircom Technologies Ltd. to boost local manufacturing and create 57 new, good-paying jobs in Thornhill.