Today Minister of Finance and President of the Treasury Board Peter Bethlenfalvy presented his first Budget and the Government’s second during the pandemic: Ontario’s Action Plan: Protecting People’s Health and Our Economy.

Overview

The 2021 Budget has two core pillars: protecting people’s health by defeating COVID-19, fixing long-term care and caring for people; and protecting the economy by supporting workers and families, supporting jobs and supporting communities.

The deficit will reach $33.1 billion in 2021-2022 with projections at $27.7 billion in 2022-23 and $20.2 billion in 2023-24. If economic conditions are good, the Government projects that the deficit could be eliminated by 2029-2030 fiscal year.

AMCTO member and municipal interests

As previously announced, the Government is making an additional investment to support operating pressures faced by 444 municipalities as a result of COVID-19 in 2021. Also, as announced at ROMA, the Government has committed a $200 million investment in municipalities through the 2021 Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund.

Of particular note for the municipal sector and our members, included in the 2021 Budget are the following:

• $400 million in new funds to support tourism and hospitality over the next three years, including a new Ontario Tourism and Hospitality Small Business Support Grant, which will provide an estimated $100 million in one-time payments of $10,000 to $20,000 to eligible small businesses;
• A second round of Ontario Small Business Support Grant payments to eligible recipients, which will provide approximately 120,000 small business with $10,000 to $20,000 grants totally $1.7 billion;
• A commitment for an additional $2.8 billion to improve broadband infrastructure, to ensure that every region in the province has access to reliable services by 2025. Combined with prior commitments, this new funding increases the Province’s investment in broadband to nearly $4 billion over six years beginning in 2019-20; and
• A further postponement of the property tax reassessment. As you may recall, in the March 2020 Economic and Fiscal Update, the Government postponed the property tax reassessment that was scheduled to be conducted in 2020 for the 2021 taxation year.

The 2021 Budget also commits to a review of the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) in consultation with municipalities, to ensure the program meets the needs of local communities. AMCTO welcomes these discussions, as Ontario municipalities depend on the OMPF to provide predictable and stable funding for municipalities.

AMCTO staff will continue to review the 2021 Budget and the bill in the coming days for impacts to members.

Ontario's Action Plan: Protecting People's Health and Our Economy 
2021 Ontario Budget