Ontario Budget 2025

What You Need to Know

May 15, 2025

Less than 90 days ago, Premier Doug Ford was criss-crossing the province touting his leadership credentials to “Protect Ontario” from President Donald Trump and the economic uncertainty caused by the United States’ tariffs.

Today, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy officially tabled the Tories’ plan to do just that as part of the 2025 Budget.

A Plan to Protect Ontario attempts to strike a balance between short-term measures to provide certainty to businesses and workers, like the six-month deferral of provincial taxes and the establishment of grants for trade-impacted communities, and making long-term investments in services and infrastructure needed to build a self-reliant economy. This includes the doubling of capital expenditures to $200B over 10 years, which includes $30B for highway expansion and rehabilitation projects, $61B for public transit, $56B for health infrastructure and $30B to build more schools and childcare spaces.

Bethlenfalvy’s fiscal plan also includes measures to provide direct relief to Ontario families through gas and fuel tax cuts and removing tolls from the provincially-owned Highway 407 East.

One notable difference in the budget is the shift away from the government’s desire to balance the budget by 2026/2027, which was previously announced in the mid-term outlook last October. Instead, the government is delaying the path to balance by one year, to ensure there is flexibility to make strategic investments to mitigate the economic impact of tariffs on the province, while reserving a contingency fund should additional measures be required down the road.

Premier Ford received a renewed mandate at the ballot box based on the strength of this plan. Whether it delivers results and proves the government has struck the right balance between addressing today’s needs with tomorrow’s uncertainties, remains to be seen.

By the Numbers

Projected deficit for 2025-2026

$14.6B

$14.6B, up from $5.6B in
fall economic statement

Program spending

$216.3B

$232.5B total spend

2025-2026 net debt-to-GDP ratio

37.9%

same as fall economic statement projection

Highlights

Immediate Supports for Tariff-Impacted Workers and Businesses

$5B to establish the Protecting Ontario Account (POA) to provide businesses with critical support, which will work in tandem with federal government supports
$20M in 2025–26 to mobilize new training and support centres to provide immediate transition supports for laid-off workers
Up to $40M in grants through the new Trade-Impacted Communities Program (TICP) to help communities and local industries navigate economic challenges
$85M total to extend investment in the Ontario Automotive Modernization Program (O-AMP) and the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN)
$73M over the next four years to provide additional funding to continue the OVIN program delivered by the Ontario Centre of Innovation

Building a More Competitive, Resilient and Self-Reliant Economy

Temporarily enhance the Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit for Canadian-controlled private corporations and expand access to the OMMITC to non-Canadian-controlled private corporations (non-CCPCs) making eligible investments in Ontario
$600M additional funding to the Invest Ontario Fund to provide the agency greater stability in executing its mandate of job creation and investment attraction
$200M to the new Ontario Shipbuilding Grant to support the shipbuilding industry and the broader marine sector
$500M to create a new Critical Minerals Processing Fund (CMPF) to provide strategic financial support for projects that will accelerate the province’s critical minerals processing capacity
$10M additional to extend the Ontario Junior Exploration Program (OJEP) to help cover costs for critical and precious mineral exploration and development
$5M additional over two years in the Critical Minerals Innovation Fund to encourage critical minerals innovation and reduce reliance on foreign sources of critical minerals and processing
$3B to relaunch the Indigenous Opportunities Financing Program, previously the Aboriginal Loan Guarantee Program ($1B), to support Indigenous participation in more sectors
$10M over three years to create new scholarship opportunities for First Nation students interested in pursuing careers in resource development
$4.7B to Ontario Power Generation to refurbish and expand hydroelectric generating stations across the province
$30M for a new round of funding for the Hydrogen Innovation Fund
$10.9B over 12 years in energy efficiency programs
$15M additional to renew the Life Sciences Innovation Fund (LSIF) program for three years
$15.5M additional over three years to increase the McMaster Nuclear Reactor’s production of medical isotopes
$90M additional in venture capital funding through Venture Ontario to support early-stage companies
$207M additional over three years through the Ontario Research Fund’s Research Infrastructure stream to provide Ontario institutions with funding for global research and development infrastructure
$6M to expand Forest Access Roads in Northern Ontario and $2.4M over three years for the Forest Sector Strategy
$7.5M for the Digitalization Competence Centre to support digital literacy programs
Increase the maximum amounts for administrative monetary penalties and certain fines to $5M and $10M, respectively, to deter bad actors from operating in Ontario’s capital markets
$705M additional over the next three years to the Skills Development Fund to help organizations deliver better training programs and upgrade and build new training centres across the province
$150M over three years for the Skills Development Fund Capital Stream
$50M additional for the Better Jobs Ontario Program to support vocational and skills training, including a fast-track stream for trade-impacted sectors
$159.3M additional over three years to support ongoing growth and program stability in various skilled trades programs
$75M over three years to create up to 2,600 new seats annually in priority construction-related postsecondary programs
$750M over five years to fund up to 20,500 STEM seats per year at publicly assisted colleges and universities
$55.8M over two years to train 2,600 new teachers by 2027

Building Ontario

$5B additional to the Building Ontario Fund to co-invest in key priority areas such as long-term care, energy infrastructure, and affordable housing
$400M additional to the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund (HEWSF)

Cleaning Up Our Streets

$113M over the next 3 years to help keep Ontario’s borders secure
Introduction of a new cybercrime and cryptocurrency prosecution team
New pool-based recommendation process for judicial positions that would allow the government to speed up appointments to the Ontario Court of Justice
Increasing enrolment in the Basic Constable Training (BCT) program and eliminating tuition fees to support new recruits
$75M additional for homelessness prevention programs
$1 billion towards expanding and renovating the Ontario Police College in Aylmer and a new OPP academy in Orillia
$57M in additional funding for two new H-135 helicopters to support the Niagara Regional Police Service and the Windsor Police Service with increased patrols
Amend the Highway Traffic Act to give police the authority to search for and seize electronic devices that are intended to be used for vehicle theft
$6M additional through the Preventing Auto Thefts program to help fund police services
Establishing a dedicated Major Auto Theft Prosecution Response Team
$8.8M additional to support the intake of up to 300 recruits in the Basic Constable Training Program.
$12.8M through the Anti-Hate Security and Prevention Grant for faith-based and cultural organizations
$303M over the next three years to stabilize the community-based mental health and addictions services sector
$1M over three years to support Victim Services Toronto’s Reclaim Project
Develop a comprehensive provincial strategy to combat money laundering and other illicit activities, with consultations this year
Extend fines for possession of contraband cigarettes to cigars and other tobacco products

Keeping Costs Down

Make permanent previously temporary cuts to the gasoline and fuel tax of 5.7 cents per litre and 5.3 centre per litre
Remove tolls from the last publicly owned stretch of tolled highway on Highway 407 East
Provide a 35% optional reduction for the municipal property tax rate starting in 2026 for Ontario municipalities

Delivering Better Services

$300M additional for new teaching clinics in partnership with Ontario’s medical schools to train future family doctors and primary care providers
$56B for 50 new and upgraded hospitals in Ontario, including the redevelopment of seven new hospitals. $43B of this funding is for capital grants, and $103M for additional planning grants
$1.1B over the next year in additional hospital funding, including 4% base and targeted and funding, and one-time funding for the surgical system
$30B over the next ten years to build and expand new schools and create child care spaces in the province
$280M over the next two years to expand Integrated Community Health Service Centres to deliver MRI and CT scans, plus endoscopy procedures and orthopedic surgeries
$56.8M additional over next three years to increase enrolment in nursing programs
$100M additional in 2027-28 to expand the Ontario Fertility Program
$175M additional in 2025-26 for Ontario Autism Program
$2B in 2025-2026 to repair and maintain schools

Next Steps

Budget Implementation

Budget policy becomes law through legislation or existing statutory spending power granted to the government. Legislative changes can be packaged together in a budget measures bill, which provides an opportunity for stakeholders to engage on the government’s flagship policies.

Canada–U.S. Engagement

In response to ongoing U.S. protectionism, the Ontario government has taken a leading role in supporting businesses to adapt and maintain their competitiveness. The budget reannounced measures to support expanded interprovincial trade, and Premier Ford’s government is expected to sustain its engagement with counterparts in Washington.

Keep Engaging

Stakeholders should continue to engage with the government during the rollout of the budget bill and over the summer in the lead-up to the fall economic statement.

Fall Economic Statement

While the Minister of Finance faces a financial penalty if the Fall Economic Statement is delivered after November 15, 2025, the province is likely to wait for the federal government to deliver its own fall projections – particularly in the absence of a budget this spring – to inform Ontario’s planning.

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Click here to view the complete budget documentation.