Ontario projecting $4.5B deficit this year in third-quarter finances
Ontario is projecting that it will end this fiscal year with a $4.5-billion deficit, while also so far hanging onto a large contingency fund.
Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy released the province's third-quarter finances Monday, the last major fiscal update he's set to provide before introducing the next budget by the end of March.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
The current deficit projection for 2023-24 is $4.5 billion, which is $1.1 billion lower than the forecast in Bethlenfalvy's fall economic statement, but still significantly higher than the $1.3 billion he was eyeing at the time of last year's budget.
Bethlenfalvy said the $1.1-billion improvement is due to higher revenue, including money from taxes and transfers from the federal government, and lower interest costs on the province's debt due to rosier interest rate forecasts.
"I'm pleased to report that inflationary pressure has eased somewhat on households across the province, providing some much needed relief to millions of Ontarians and their families," he said at a news conference.
"That said, high interest rates from the Bank of Canada as well as uncertainty around consumer price inflation continue to pose risks to Ontario's economic outlook."
Ontario has added some new spending since the fall economic statement, including $1.7 billion to the health sector and more than $700 million in supports for the city of Toronto.
Bethlenfalvy did not provide an exact amount, but said part of that $1.7 billion was being used for retroactive payments for health-care workers to compensate them for the government's wage restraint legislation known as Bill 124.
The $1.7 billion, however, does not include funding to help hospitals that are warning of facing operating deficits, but Bethlenfalvy said that money is coming.
"They will be receiving significant amounts of funding in the very near term as we roll that out," he said.
The province is using its contingency fund to pay for some of the new expenses since the fall economic statement, and the fund that sat at $5.4 billion at the time of the fall economic update is now at $3.3 billion.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2024
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
DEVELOPING Alberta's request for federal assistance approved after fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on social media that Ottawa has approved Alberta's request for federal assistance after a fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday.
BREAKING Loblaw, George Weston to settle class action over bread price-fixing for $500 million
Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd. say they have agreed to pay $500-million to settle a class-action lawsuit regarding their involvement in an alleged bread price-fixing scheme.
EXCLUSIVE One address, 76 foreign currency dealers: Inside Canada's money service business 'clusters'
An IJF and CTV News investigation has found dozens of cases across Canada where multiple money services businesses (MSBs) are incorporated at the same address, sometimes without the knowledge or consent of the location's actual occupant. One money laundering expert calls it an 'abuse of the system.'
U.K. police officer suspended after video appears to show a man being kicked in head
A British police officer was suspended from all duties Thursday after a video was posted on social media that appeared to show an officer kicking and stamping on the head of a man lying on the floor of a terminal at Manchester Airport.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Norad intercepts Russian and Chinese bombers operating together near Alaska in apparent first
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
Biden explains why he ended re-election bid in Oval Office address
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Jasper mayor says alert system to be reviewed after message 'glitch'
More than 25,000 people have been displaced from Jasper National Park since wildfires started to threaten the picturesque corner of Alberta Rockies on Monday, but the mayor of its namesake municipality says not everyone received an evacuation alert when it was sent out.
Unclaimed bodies are piling up in Newfoundland. A funeral director blames the government
A funeral director in St. John's says the bodies piling up in freezers at Newfoundland and Labrador's largest hospital likely belong to people whose loved ones couldn't get enough government help to pay for a funeral.