The government of Ontario Premier Doug Ford has unveiled its budget for 2025. Like many other moves by Ford, its focus is on protecting the provincial economy from tariffs. The province’s deficit is expected to grow by 10 billion Canadian dollars over the next year.
“These are the measures needed to protect jobs and job creators alike by providing them with certainty at a time when uncertainty threatens their well-being,” Ontario's finance minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said, who delivered the budget speech in the Ontario legislature.
He said the government of Premier Doug Ford will spend billions of dollars on programs to support workers and stimulate the economy, all in the face of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump.
The new budget includes five billion dollars for the Protecting Ontario Account. That’s money to support businesses disrupted by tariffs. There will be a one-billion-dollar skills development fund and money for a new critical minerals fund to develop the potential of the mineral sector.
Long-term plans include $200 billion over the next ten years on infrastructure, $33 billion of that this year, as well as $30 billion for highway construction, $60 billion for public transit, $56 billion for health care infrastructure, and $30 billion for more schools and childcare spaces.
But Bethlenfalvy said with the challenges ahead, Ontario can’t go it alone.
“But we are going to need the federal government to step up and do their part as well. Tariffs have created an economic challenge right across Ontario and it is our communities who are hurting the most,” Bethlenfalvy said.
Bethlenfalvy also described the tariffs imposed by Washington as a wake-up call for Canadians but added that this is a time for growth rather than fear.
The budget also keeps some Conservative election promises to lower the gas tax and to get rid of tolls on the provincially owned portion of the 407-toll highway.
The new budget projects a deficit of $14.6 billion over the next year – $10 billion more than last year’s budget. But while it’s too early to determine the full impact of U.S. tariffs and fears of a recession, the budget actually predicts modest growth.
