TORONTO -- As Ontario prepares to reopen the economy in June, the New Democratic Party is calling on the Progressive Conservative government to provide businesses with $2.2 billion in additional financial supports to help struggling owners survive the pandemic-induced lockdowns.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said main street businesses need a third round of government grants of up to $20,000 to help them “make it to their re-opening day” and Ontarians should be offered a tax credit to visit tourist destinations and restaurants once the restrictions are lifted.

“This long, painful lockdown is the result of Doug Ford’s poor pandemic choices — not the choices of local business owners,” Horwath said in a statement. “The Ford government needs to spend the money to help them make it through, so they can contribute to a strong Ontario recovery.

The Ford government has, so far, budgeted $3.4 billion for the Ontario Small Business Support Grant and announced in March that 120,000 small businesses were eligible for a second round of payments between $10,000 to $20,000 each.

The Ministry of Finance said the government has already spent $2.9 billion to help nearly 200,000 small businesses -- including 110,000 during the second wave lockdown and 85,000 during the third wave shutdown.

Offering businesses a third cash infusion would cost another $1.7 billion, pushing the overall program expense to more than $5 billion.

The NDP said Ontario residents, hungry for summer travel, should also be incentivized to visit provincial destinations and dine at locally-owned restaurants when the restrictions are eased.

The party first tabled proposed legislation in the summer of 2020 that would offer residents a non-refundable tourism tax credit of up to $1,000 to visit tourism businesses in Ontario, and for making purchases at a qualifying restaurant, hotel, store or attraction.

The legislation, which the NDP estimated would cost the treasury $150 million, was given first reading in the Ontario Legislature but hasn’t been pushed forward by the Ford government.

During the 2020 budget the Ford government declared 2021 to be the "year of the staycation" and unveiled a similar $150 million program to give families a tax credit of up to 20 per cent of eligible tourism expenses, but has yet to announce any additional details.

The NDP is also calling on the government to offer personal care businesses – which have been closed for six months in Toronto and Peel region – a “safe reopening grant” to help them remain open and to give other businesses access to forgivable loans.