Just days before Ontarians head to the polls, Premier Doug Ford released his party’s partially costed platform, outlining $40 billion in new spending promises and admitting that he won’t balance the provincial budget.
Ford’s plan includes $68-$70 billion in additional or expanded spending, with other major projects–such as transit, highways and tunnels–listed without a specific cost estimate for taxpayers.
The platform allocated $2 billion to help build “millions of homes,” adding to the $4 billion already spent by the PC government over the last two years.
“Our Plan to Protect Ontario includes over $40 billion in new investments, loans and other financial supports that will be made available to workers, unions, businesses, municipalities and communities to protect them from the impact of U.S. tariffs,” the plan reads.
Examples included the $5 billion “Protect Ontario Account,” which consists of financial support programs for large-scale industrial job creators in the province, helping to reshore supply chains, find new customers, and maintain jobs.
The plan also provides $3 billion in tax and payroll premium relief for employers and small businesses, along with $10 billion in “immediate cash flow” support for Ontario job creators.
“As long as Donald Trump is in the White House, Ontario will stare down the threat of economic risk and uncertainty,” Ford said Monday. “Hundreds of 1000s of jobs are on the line, whether he imposes them next week, next month or next year. President Trump will use the threat of tariffs to get what he wants. We need to be ready for anything. We’re going to be ready for everything.”
When asked by reporters if the new spending means he is abandoning any pretext that he would balance the budget, Ford confirmed that if the tariffs hit his government “won’t be able to” balance the budget.
“Similar to the pandemic, we’re going to invest in the people. I’m going to protect the families, protect businesses, protect jobs right here, that’s what I’m going to do,” he said. “If these tariffs come, our investment is going to be over $40 billion, no matter if it’s loans or other investments. We have for people and businesses to make sure they’re secure here if Trump’s tariffs come and hit us.”
Franco Terrazzano, the federal director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said if Ford wants to spend more, he needs to save more.
“Taxpayers need all parties to find savings in the budget. It’s not responsible to keep running deficits and saddling kids and grandkids with more debt,” Terrazzano told True North. “Interest charges on the debt are already costing taxpayers $13 billion. That’s billions of dollars that isn’t going to improve health care or lower taxes because it’s going to the bond fund managers on Bay Street.”
Despite the increased spending, Ford said his government has been “fiscally responsible” and hasn’t raised taxes. He said he can spend so much because there are over a million new taxpayers since he’s gotten in office, and over $70 billion of taxed investments into Ontario.
One Fraser Institute study found that despite Ford vowing to balance the provincial budget in 2018, by 2025, his “progressive conservative” government has spent more annually than any provincial government in Ontario’s history – barring only Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty in 2010.
“If Ford wants to spend more money on new priorities then he needs to find savings in other areas of the budget,” Terrazzano said. “Ford should live up to his original promise and end the party with taxpayers’ money. And he should start by ending corporate welfare.”
The Ontario PC government projected a $6.6 billion deficit last October, which is several billion lower than the $9.8 billion it projected in Ontario’s 2024 budget last March.
Ford’s plan promises more corporate welfare and boasts of the billions already spent on infrastructure projects, particularly in the EV market, which some have criticized as a fruitless endeavour amid a drop in demand for electric vehicles.
Other promises made by Ford were $2.5 billion into “the trades,” continuing with his 2022 pledge to “build 1.5 million homes by 2031,” and removing the minimum price on alcohol, which he said was only in place by the previous government to reduce drinking.