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1. Ford Government Fiscal Policy Approach Mirrors that of McGuinty and Wynne

   This bulletin analyzes the recent 2021 budget that Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government tabled in order to assess the extent to which it continues or changes the general fiscal policy approach of the Liberal governments of Premiers ...

2. Lessons for the Ford Government from the 1995 Federal Budget

   Chronic deficits since the 2008/09 recession have weakened Ontario’s public finances. The province’s debt-to-GDP ratio—a key measure of fiscal sustainability—increased from 27.8 percent to an estimated 47.0 percent of GDP by the end of 2020/21. ...

3. Restoring Ontario's Public Finances

   Ontario’s public finances have deteriorated over the last few decades as chronic deficits have led to mounting public debt. Nevertheless, the situation can be repaired—and relatively more quickly than might be imagined. Restoring Ontario’s Public Finances ...

4. Ontario’s Lost Decade: 2007–2016

   Between 2007 and 2016, Ontario was mired in a prolonged period of economic weakness during which it lost ground compared to the rest of the country on many important economic indicators. This bulletin examines the extent of Ontario’s economic ...

5. Repeating Past Mistakes? Spending Restraint Critical for Ontario’s Fiscal Health

   In 2016/17, Ontario’s net debt reached $302 billion, or approximately $21, 500 per Ontarian. The province’s debt-to-GDP level stands at 38 percent, just below its all-time historic high. Ontario’s net debt has increased dramatically since 2003/04, ...

6. Canada’s Past Fiscal Leaders Are Now Fiscal Laggards: An Analysis of 2017 Provincial Budgets

   Around the turn of the 21st century, Alberta and Ontario could both boast of having comparatively sound public finances relative to most other provinces. In recent years, however, serious fiscal problems have emerged in both provinces. Alberta and Ontario ...

7. Wishful Thinking: An Analysis of Ontario’s Timeline for Shrinking Its Debt Burden

   Since 2007/08, Ontario’s level of public debt has approximately doubled. As a result, the provincial debt-to-GDP ratio has climbed to historically high levels in recent years. In its 2017 budget, Premier Wynne’s government presented a timeline for ...

8. Race to the Bottom: Comparing the Recent Deficits of Alberta and Ontario

   Alberta’s public finances are deteriorating rapidly, with the provincial government set to run a cumulative budget deficit of $27.6 billion over the three-year period from 2015/16 to 2017/18. Until recently, by far the largest deficits of any ...

9. Ontario vs. Michigan: Policy Lessons from the Wolverine State

   Michigan’s strong economic performance since 2011 stands in contrast to Ontario, a jurisdiction that also has a large manufacturing base as a central feature of its economy but one that has not experienced an economic resurgence comparable to Michigan’s ...

10. Debt Accumulation in Ontario Compared to Other Provinces

    A recent Fraser Institute study showed that Ontario’s provincial government has accumulated debt rapidly in recent years. In fact, Ontario has acquired more than half of its nearly $300 billion net debt (a measure that adjusts for financial assets) since ...