“The world is to be frank a more unsettled and uncertain place,” Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy says of Ontario’s budget for 2023. “Ontario is part of a global economy and is not immune to the impact of global forces.”
Under the spending plan, released Thursday afternoon, Ontario’s deficit has dropped drastically to about $2.2 billion for this fiscal year, which is about $17.7 billion lower than 2022.
This tracks with the Ford government’s plan to reduce surgical backlogs by investing in private clinics and allowing them to perform more OHIP-covered surgeries. In total, Ontario’s 10-year capital plan includes about $27.9 billion for highways, $70.5 billion for transit, more than $48 billion for hospital infrastructure, and $22 billion for education.The government said it will expand the Guaranteed Annual Income System program starting in July 2024. Officials said the changes would see 100,000 additional seniors be eligible for the program—a 50 per cent increase in recipients.
The government reiterated their gas tax and fuel tax credit, which was previously extended until December 2023, will save households about $195 on average since the program was put in place in July 2022. The elimination of licence plate renewal fees resulted in savings for drivers of about $1.1 billion, the budget said.
The province will also provide new money for supportive housing. The PCs have pledged to add an additional $202 million each year to the Homeless Prevention Program and Indigenous Supportive Housing Program. Housing starts, which measure new residential construction, also appear to be declining despite new measures put in place by the government, from 96,000 in 2022 to just over 80,000 projected for 2023.
The New Democratic Party Finance Critic, Catherine Fife, stressed the budget is “more of the same” and that isn’t working for Ontarians.
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