MPP Clark says Ontario’s 2025 Fall Economic Statement delivering on the province’s plan to build a more competitive, resilient and self-reliant economy

BROCKVILLE — On Thursday, Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy released the 2025 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review: A Plan to Protect Ontario, which supports the government’s plan to protect Ontario by building a more competitive, resilient, and self-reliant economy by cutting red tape, investing in infrastructure, supporting workers, improving services and making life more affordable.

“With tariffs taking direct aim at Ontario workers and communities, it has never been more important for the government to deliver on its plan to protect Ontario. We continue to make historic investments in highways, transit, health care and all the other services our communities rely on, so we can build for our growing province. We are doing this all while keeping costs down for families and helping to unleash Ontario’s full economic potential,” said Minister Bethlenfalvy. “We are able to take unprecedented steps to protect Ontario thanks to our commitment to fiscal prudence, which has put Ontario’s finances in the strongest position they have been in over a decade.”

“Our area has felt the impact of U.S. tariffs, and that’s why it’s vital that today’s Fall Economic Statement continues to build on our government’s investments to support local workers, businesses, and communities,” said Steve Clark, MPP for Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes. “We’re making Ontario’s economy the most competitive in the G7 and providing the tools our communities need to attract new investment. And our government is doing all of this while maintaining our focus on keeping costs down for small businesses, families, and individuals.”

Highlights of the 2025 Fall Economic Statement include:

• Rebating the full provincial portion of the HST for first-time home buyers of most new homes. Subject to the passage of federal legislation, Ontario’s new rebate would eliminate the full 8 per cent provincial portion of the HST for first-time home buyers on qualifying new homes valued up to $1 million, saving home buyers up to $80,000 off the cost of a new home when combined with existing provincial relief.

• Delivering on its plan to protect Ontario workers, businesses and communities from the impacts of U.S. tariffs, through the development of Ontario’s Tax Action Plan. This work will focus on updating Ontario’s personal and corporate income taxes to encourage and attract more business investment, help improve Ontario’s competitiveness in the G7 and lower costs or provide relief for individuals and families in the years and decades to come. An update on the Tax Action Plan will be provided in the 2026 Ontario Budget.

• Investing an additional $100 million in the Ontario Together Trade Fund (OTTF) to further help small and medium-sized enterprises diversify into new markets and strengthen trade resiliency. This brings total program funding to $150 million over three years, starting in 2025–26. The increased support will enable businesses affected by U.S. tariffs to pivot production, forge new sales partnerships and expand interprovincial trade.

• Helping Ontario manufacturers and processors lower their costs, innovate, and become more competitive by introducing legislation to enhance and expand the Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit (OMMITC). This includes proposing to temporarily enhance the tax credit rate from 10 per cent to 15 per cent and expand access to the tax credit as a 15 per cent non-refundable version to corporations that are not Canadian-controlled private corporations (CCPCs). In addition, the government is now proposing to amend the OMMITC eligibility criteria for investments in machinery and equipment to provide greater flexibility for businesses.

• Investing $1.1 billion over three years to extend home care services and the Hospital to Home (H2H) program. The government’s investment includes $982 million to strengthen critical home care services and more than $170 million to enhance and expand the H2H program. These investments will ease pressures on the health care system and hospitals, helping ensure people receive the right care in the right place.

• Supporting sectors affected by U.S. tariffs through the $5 billion Protecting Ontario Account. In August, the government launched the initial $1 billion of the Protect Ontario Financing Program (POFP), which is already supporting Ontario-based businesses directly impacted by higher tariff rates in the steel, aluminum, copper and auto sectors by helping them keep their doors open and keep workers on the job. The government is now developing the second and third streams, to be supported by the remaining $4 billion. These streams will fortify Ontario’s economic resilience, fuel innovation, and fast-track high-growth firms to sharpen Ontario’s global edge.

• Continuing to invest in the province’s most ambitious capital plan, with planned investments totalling more than $201 billion over 10 years, including over $33 billion in 2025–26. This plan will help keep workers on the job in the face of economic uncertainty caused by tariffs.

MPP Clark said local highlights of this year’s Fall Economic Statement included the commitment to replace the Brockville Jail by building the new 250-bed Brockville Correctional Complex.

In addition, MPP Clark was pleased that an initiative he has championed locally – preserving existing recreational trails when lands are added to Ontario’s network of provincial parks and conservation reserves, so they remain available to the public for years to come – was included. The document states: “This means engaging directly with local recreation clubs, such as those near Charleston Lake Provincial Park, to help ensure existing trails will be preserved when that park is expanded.”

QUICK FACTS:

• Ontario’s real GDP is projected to rise 0.8 per cent in 2025 and 0.9 per cent in 2026, in line with the 2025 Budget outlook.

• Ontario’s 2025–26 deficit is projected to be $13.5 billion — an improvement of $1.1 billion from the outlook published in the 2025 Budget. Over the medium term, the government is forecasting a deficit of $7.8 billion in 2026–27 and a surplus of $0.2 billion in 2027–28.

• The government’s approach maintains a path to balance the budget by 2027–28 as part of its fiscal plan. Ontario is prepared to do whatever it takes to provide critical financial support to protect Ontario workers and jobs.

• The provincial net debt-to-GDP ratio in 2025–26 is now projected to be 37.7 per cent, 0.2 percentage points lower than forecast in the 2025 Budget. Over the medium-term outlook, the net debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to remain modestly lower than the forecasts in the 2025 Budget and continues to remain below target levels.

• In the recently released Public Accounts of Ontario 2024–2025, Ontario reported a $1.1 billion deficit in 2024–25, compared to a forecasted deficit of $9.8 billion in the 2024 Budget. The government remains focused on reducing the debt burden and bringing Ontario’s finances back to balance.

In the near future, the government will launch consultations to help inform the next phase of the plan to protect Ontario as part of the 2026 Ontario Budget and hear from the people of Ontario and their ideas on protecting Ontario’s economy and workers, creating more jobs, keeping taxes low and costs down, delivering better services and getting critical infrastructure projects built.