Ontario Tables 2023 Provincial Budget; Focus on Healthcare, Infrastructure

© Reuters.

By Ketki Saxena 

Investing.com -- Ontario has tabled its budget for 2023, tabling a $204.7-billion budget that Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy says is designed to “not only face the current turbulence we see in the global economy, but emerge from it stronger than ever."

$81 billion is benchmarked for the health-care sector this fiscal year, up from nearly $75 billion in 2022-2023. That expense is projected to grow at 5% annual in the next two years.

Another huge chunk will go towards major infrastructure projects like building highways, hospitals and schools, with $184.4 billion set aside for over the next decade. That's over $25 billion more than was set aside for infrastructure in the last budget.

$3.9 billion will be held by the Treasury Boar in a contingency fund this year, which is design to cover any unexpected expense. $1 billion will go the province’s reserve budget in 2023-2024, before increasing to $2 billion and $4 billion, respectively, over the next two years.

The budget included little in the way of affordability measures for individual taxpayers, although the province has expanded eligibility for Guaranteed Annual Income System payment for low-income seniors and indexed it to inflation. The 5.7 cent gas tax cut introduced in July last year will be maintained until the end of 2023. 

For 2023, the province expects a $1.3 billion deficit, substantially lower than last year’s forecast (nearly 12 fold lower). 

In 2024, that is expected to flip to a modest surplus of $200 million surplus in 2024-2025, three years earlier than estimated in last year's budget. The surplus is expected to increase to $4.4 billion by the following year. 

The flip to a surplus is expected to be driven by surging revenues will help Ontario get back to black years earlier than previously projected, the province said in its 2023 budget — a fiscal outlook that includes historically high spending and tax relief for businesses, but little in the way of new affordability measures for individuals.

The provincial government forecasts a roughly $200 billion in revenue this year, $20.6 billion more than was forecast in last year's budge. By 2025-2026  total revenue is expected to reach $226 billion.