2010 Ontario Budget Opens Ontario to Job Creation and Growth
McGuinty Government’s Balanced Plan Protects Public Services
With the 2010 Ontario Budget, the McGuinty government is moving forward with its five-year plan to Open Ontario to new jobs and growth while outlining measures to help eliminate the deficit caused by the global recession.
Expanding on initiatives announced recently in Ontario’s Speech from the Throne, the Budget is proposing investments that will help 20,000 more students go to college or university this
September, and create jobs and boost economic growth in northern Ontario.
Open Ontario builds on progress made over the past six years to support job creation and enhance the programs and services, including education, health care and skills training, that Ontarians value.
The 2010 Budget includes measures to manage expenditures, including compensation restraint and making government programs more efficient. It lays out a realistic and responsible plan to cut the deficit in half in five years, and eliminate it in eight years.
QUOTES
“The creation of 20,000 more post-secondary spaces is a big win for our local colleges and universities. It will allow us to open Ottawa up to the world and attract more students to study and live here,” said Yasir Naqvi, MPP for Ottawa Centre.
“I am very happy to see a Budget that addresses our fiscal challenges in a responsible way. It will provide Ontarians with every opportunity to succeed in a thriving economy, while protecting the strong social services that we have all worked hard to build,” said Phil McNeely, MPP for Ottawa Orléans.
“We are dedicated to improving the quality of life for all Ontarians, particularly our most vulnerable. The 2010 Budget demonstrates our commitment to support a comprehensive and realistic poverty reduction approach that is targeting those who need help the most,” said the Honourable Madeleine Meilleur, MPP for Ottawa-Vanier.
“I am pleased to see the government continue to support the Eastern Ontario Economic Development Fund as it continues to attract investment as well as help companies in our region invest in new technologies, new equipment and skills training for their employees,” said Jim Brownell, MPP for Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry.
“This Budget proves that our infrastructure stimulus plan is working. With our partners we have invested $400 million in infrastructure in Ottawa, creating jobs and strengthening our community,” said Bob Chiarelli, MPP for Ottawa West-Nepean.
“I am very happy that our government is committed to preserving an estimated 88 child care spaces in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell and 302 spaces in Ottawa,” said Jean Marc Lalonde, MPP for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell.
QUICK FACTS
Postsecondary Education and Skills Training
• Ottawa’s post-secondary institutions will benefit from an additional $310 million investment to add 20,000 new spaces to colleges and universities province-wide this September.
• Aggressively promoting Ontario postsecondary institutions abroad to encourage the world’s best students to study here, settle here and help Ontario build a stronger economy
• Boosted Employment Ontario spending to $1.6 billion in each 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 to help retrain an additional 30,000 unemployed workers through the Second Career Strategy
Child Care Investments and Full-Day Learning
• We are preserving an estimated 302 child care spaces in Ottawa because we are stepping in to permanently fill the gap left by the federal government with an investment of $63.5 million a year province-wide
• 39 Ottawa schools will benefit from full-day learning for four- and five-year-olds, beginning in September 2010
• Investing $245 million over the next two years in capital grants to implement full-day learning
Supporting Families and Reducing Poverty
• Increasing the minimum wage to $10.25 an hour on March 31, 2010
• Providing a new, permanent refundable sales tax credit of up to $260 per person and enhancing property tax relief for low- to middle-income Ontarians
• Increase adult basic-needs allowances and maximum shelter allowances by one per cent for people on the Ontario Disability Support Program and Ontario Works
Completing Stimulus Infrastructure Investments
• Along with our partners, we are investing more than $400 million in Stimulus funding, including investments in the Hunt Club Road expansion, and the Ottawa Chinatown Gateway
• Record infrastructure investments in 2009-10 and 2010-11 are helping to create and preserve more than 300,000 jobs
Agriculture and Rural Communities
• Since the creation of the Eastern Ontario Development Fund in 2008, the government has approved more than $30 million in funding. This money will help attract investment and help companies in the region invest in new technologies, new equipment and skills training
• The Rural Economic Development Program has invested $91 million in 266 projects, generating over $737 million in new economic activity
Managing Responsibly
• Presenting a realistic and responsible plan to cut the deficit in half in five years and eliminate it in eight years
• Forecasting a deficit of $21.3 billion for 2009-10 in the 2010 Budget – an improvement of $3.4 billion from the $24.7 billion deficit forecast published in the Fall 2009 Economic Outlook
• Protecting public services and directing scarce resources to help sustain service delivery by introducing legislation that would extend the current salary freeze for Members of Provincial Parliament from one year to three years,
• These measures would help redirect up to $750 million towards sustaining schools, hospitals and other public services
• Freezing internal administration costs at or below 2010-11 levels over the medium term and continuing a comprehensive review of Ontario government programs and services