2019 Ontario Budget

Ontario's Finance Minister Victor Fedeli tabled the province's budget on April 11. As expected, the budget includes a range of cost-cutting measures to help move the province towards a balanced budget but also introduced key spending initiatives.

This year's budget focuses on:

• Deficit reduction
• Child-care support
• Education and healthcare
• Transit

Deficit reduction

This budget sets out a five-year path to a balanced budget. Currently, Ontario has a deficit of $11.7 billion forecast for 2018-19. It is anticipated there will be a deficit of $10.3 billion in 2019-20 followed by deficits of $6.8 billion and $5.6 billion in each of the following fiscal years, with a long-term plan to return to balance by 2023-24.

Child-care support

The government has proposed new child care support with the introduction of the Ontario Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses (CARE) tax credit. The CARE credit would target relief to eligible families with income up to $150,000. In addition, the government will commit up to $1 billion over the next five years to create up to 30,000 child care spaces in schools.

Education and healthcare

The budget highlighted a number of education and healthcare initiatives. The government will accelerate the development of 30,000 long-term care beds and deliver on mental health and addictions supports, as well as introduce a new publicly funded dental care program for low-income seniors. On the education front, the government developed a plan entitled “Education that Works for You” with various reforms, and a particular emphasis on math, science and financial literacy as well as skilled trades.

Transit

The government has committed $11.2 billion, of a total estimated cost of $28.5 billion, to support a public transit expansion plan for the Greater Toronto Area.

Get more details on this year's budget by downloading the report.

Download full report