Ontario tabled its fall economic statement Thursday that shows the province delaying its path to balance by a year and the government proposing to launch its own infrastructure bank to fund major projects. Here are the highlights:
Deficit
The province says there will be a larger than anticipated deficit for this fiscal year.
The spring budget projected a $1.3-billion deficit this year, with the province then getting to balance in 2024-25 with a small surplus.
But Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy now says Ontario will be $5.6 billion in the red this year, with a $5.3-billion deficit next year, followed by a small surplus in 2025-26.
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Ontario Infrastructure Bank
The province is launching the Ontario Infrastructure Bank, saying taxpayers cannot fund major capital projects alone. The province is contributing $3 billion in initial funding to get the arm’s-length bank up and running.
Ontario plans to target “trusted institutional investors” such as public-sector pension plan organizations.
Bethlenfalvy says the projects funded through the bank will initially be focused on long-term care homes, energy infrastructure, affordable housing, municipal and community infrastructure and transportation.
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Invest Ontario Fund
The province is investing $100 million more into the Invest Ontario Fund, bringing it to a total of $500 million.
The province says the money is used to attract companies to Ontario.
The province cites a $3.1 million investment from the fund given to Mitsui HighΓÇÉtec, a motor parts manufacturing company, which invested more than $100 million to expand its capacity to build parts for electric vehicles.
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Water fund
The province is launching what it calls a new “housing-enabling water systems fund.”
Ontario will invest $200 million over three years into the fund that will be available for municipalities to apply to for the “repair, rehabilitation and expansion of core water, wastewater and stormwater projects that promote growth and enable housing development.”
The province says the new fund will complement its recently announced “building faster fund,” a $1.2-billion purse over three years available to municipalities to help them reach housing targets set by the province.
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Contingency Fund
The province is squirrelling away billions of dollars to help it respond to surprise expenses.
The province set aside $1 billion in its March budget for the year towards the contingency fund.
It has now added another $2.5 billion to the fund this year, which now has a balance of $5.4 billion.
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Vaping Tax
The province plans to join the federal government’s excise tax on vaping in an effort to fight the growing issue.
The province says public health experts, the World Health Organization and the Canadian Cancer Society say taxation is a useful tool to reduce vaping.
Research in the Canadian Medical Association Journal shows that for every six non-smokers, one person will begin smoking.
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Gas Tax Cut
The province announced earlier this week it would extend its gas tax cut for another six months.
The province first cut the 5.7-cent tax in July 2022 and has extended it several times since.
The reduction and a 5.3-cent cut to the price of diesel fuel will remain until June 30, 2024.
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Rental Housing
The province is scrapping its portion of the harmonized sales tax on new purpose-built rental housing construction.
Ontario had been asking the federal government to drop its goods and sales tax on purpose-built rental housing for more than a year.
The federal government did that in September and Ontario has officially joined them in an effort to spur construction in the rental housing market.
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Mammograms
The province will be lowering the age for regular breast cancer screenings from 50 to 40, in an effort to detect cancer earlier.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced the move earlier this week.
The changes will mean an additional 130,000 mammograms each year.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2023.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
