Ontario's 2022-23 deficit falls to $18.8 billion; revenue and interest costs climb
Ontario’s 2022-23 deficit will be $1.1 billion smaller than forecast three months ago, as tax revenue grew faster than rising interest costs on the province’s ballooning debt.
The province’s latest disclosure of its finances shows that the deficit for the year is now $18.8 billion, down $1.1 billion from the Ford’s pre-election estimate.
- Download our app to get local alerts to your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
Tax revenue is up $1.2 billion, while the cost of servicing the province’s $427 billion net debt rose by $105 million due to rising interest rates.
Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said the entirety of the new net revenue would be put against the deficit, with no new funding so far to overcome the ongoing hospital closure crisis.
“I think it’s important we have a prudent and flexible plan going forward and we‘ve done that in this budget,” Bethlenfalvy said.
Ontario Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy tables the budget after Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell delivered her Speech from the Throne at Queen's Park in Toronto, on Tuesday, August 9, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Lahodynskyj
All spending is unchanged from the April 28 budget which was formally re-tabled in the legislature on Tuesday afternoon, save for a five per cent increase in monthly Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) payments promised during the election campaign and a new cash offer to parents.
Also contained in the throne speech was a pledge for more cash to parents of school age children.
The province is earmarking $225 million to give to parents as a means to “help their kids catch up” with learning impacted by prolonged school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Using 2021 estimates of expenditure from similar programs, the money amounts to between $90 and $100 per child.
A ministry of finance spokesperson said the government is still unsure if the money will be relayed to parents in the form of a tax credit or direct transfer, but Bethlenfalvy called it a “direct payment.”
Both new commitments will be funded out of a $1 billion reserve and other contingency funds.
“Parents who know their children best can provide the tutoring type support that their children need,” Bethlenfalvy said.
He fielded repeated questions from reporters about why ODSP rates could not be increased further given the improving fiscal picture, given the increased rate will still leave recipients in poverty.
“I understand that the environment is difficult and challenging, and that’s why we made a commitment to increase it by five per cent, that’s why we made a commitment to adjust it to inflation, and we’re one of only three provinces doing that.”
The slump in the province’s once red-hot housing market is also weighing on the province’s revenues, with land transfer tax revenue forecast to be $787 million less this year than forecast in late April.
That decline is more than offset by rising sales tax, income tax and corporate tax revenues.
NDP interim leader Peter Tabuns said the hospital situation and rampant inflation were grave enough that the province should have amended its budget.
"Given that inflation has soared since they tabled previously, given the depth of the (hospital) we’re facing they should have substantially amended the budget, they needed a course correction as my colleague has said."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.