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1. Ontario budget ignores past promises, offers no plan to enhance economic competitiveness

   Predictably, many of the headlines on Ontario’s 2018 budget, released today, focus on Premier Kathleen Wynne’s so-called “free” child care plan and other big-spending items. It is, after all, a big-spending budget. But crucially, the ...

2. Debt and decline—Ontario’s challenges in three snapshots

   Ontario’s upcoming provincial budget will likely include a significant increase in government spending with an eye on the spring election. Liberal Finance Minister Charles Sousa has already indicated that the pre-election budget will now ...

3. Ontario’s fiscal paradox—a balanced budget and mounting debt

   Ontario has wrapped up its 2018 pre-budget public consultations as it prepares to deliver its next provincial budget. Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa confirmed in the fall fiscal statement that Ontario’s 2018 budget will be ...

4. Ontario debt—kicking the can down the road

   A new study released this today by the Fraser Institute examined the Wynne government’s plan to reduce Ontario’s debt burden to pre-recession levels (26-27 per cent) by 2029/30 from its current level of 37.5 per cent. The government’s ...

5. Ontario’s debt plan—weak and risky

   Ontario’s finances remain in deep trouble, despite last month’s announcement of a balanced operating budget for 2017/18. The province still has $312 billion in net debt, and expects to pile on more than $11 billion in new debt annually ...

6. Ontario budget—more spending, more debt

   This afternoon, Ontario’s Finance Minister Charles Sousa delivered the provincial government budget for fiscal year 2017/18. Headlines will likely focus on the government’s first balanced operating budget in a decade. A deeper look at ...

7. Rosy rhetoric can’t hide Ontario’s dreary fiscal outlook

   Today, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa (pictured above) will deliver Ontario’s fall economic update. It will no doubt be an upbeat narrative on how Ontario is on the road to economic growth and that the province’s finances are on ...

8. Budgetary smoke and mirrors explain a significant portion of Ontario’s deficit decline

   There is very little to feel reassured about when it comes to Ontario finance minister Charles Sousa’s latest budget. Minister Sousa boasted that this year's operating deficit will be $1.8 billion smaller than planned, and ...

9. Ontario Budget: dark cloud of government debt continues to hang over the province

   Today, the Wynne government tabled a budget with a bit of good news for Ontarians. Specifically, we learned that the operating deficit in 2015/16 will be somewhat smaller (at $5.7 billion) than was previously expected ($7.5 billion)—due ...

10. Increased interest rates could sink Ontario's budget plan, increase costs to taxpayers

    With Ontario tabling its 2016 budget on Thursday, it’s important to keep in mind there are risks to the provincial government’s promise of balancing its budget by 2017/18. One risk that does not receive much attention, but could ...