Net debt is expected to exceed $ 402 billion this fiscal year, an all-time high
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Doug Ford’s government plans to bulldoze economic health.
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The new tax plan released by the Ontario government on Thursday describes a return to prosperity with billions in infrastructure investments, including the Bradford bypass and the highway. 413, expanded and new hospitals, broadband improvements in rural and remote areas, new and improved subways and long-term care beds.
The Fall Economic Statement (EEF) also provides funding to support 3,100 hospital beds and reduce the backlog of surgical and diagnostic images, add and “upgrade” more than 5,000 registered nurses (RNs) and 8 000 personal support workers (PSW) and enlarge the home and community care.
“This is a plan to protect our progress against the pandemic,” Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said in an introduction.
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“And it’s a plan that looks to the future. It is a plan to build Ontario.
The Ford government, which faces a general election next spring, confirms the minimum wage will drop to $ 15 an hour in January, as part of a significant investment in workers and retraining.
The Conservative government will introduce a new Ontario temporary stay tax credit.
Examples provided in the FES include a person who would receive $ 50 for a $ 250 hotel room and a couple with two children who would receive $ 400 for the cost of $ 2,750 of renting a cabin.
The government will spend $ 20 million over three years to support the identification, investigation, protection and commemoration of residential school burial sites.
Ontario will borrow billions of dollars over the next few years with a deficit of $ 21.5 billion in 2021-22 and projected deficits of $ 19.6 billion in 2022-2023 and $ 12.9 billion in 2023-24.
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Net debt is expected to exceed $ 402 billion this fiscal year, an all-time high.
“While current levels of government spending are necessary due to COVID-19, careful long-term planning will help Ontario’s fiscal recovery and preserve the government’s ability to meet future needs,” FES said .
However, the FES predicts that nominal GDP will increase by 27% between 2021-24, higher than the 23% previously forecast, in part because employment exceeds previous forecasts.
BIG TICKETS
$ 69.9 billion on basic spending in the health sector in 2021-2022
$ 2.6 billion on the repair and expansion of highways and bridges in 2021-2022
$ 6.4 billion on long-term care beds between 2019-2028
$ 30.2 billion more than 10 years on hospital infrastructures
$ 28.5 billion on the Ontario Line, the three-stop Scarborough Subway Extension, the Yonge North Subway Extension, and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension
$ 14 billion over 10 years on schools and school upgrades including ventilation systems
Up to $ 1 billion out of 30,000 places in approved daycare centers
Almost $ 4 billion over six years of “affordable and reliable” high-speed Internet anywhere in Ontario