Ontario has faced a once-in-a-lifetime crisis. A crisis that placed an incredible burden on our health care system, our economy, our families and our communities.
But in the face of these unprecedented and unpredictable challenges, the people of Ontario have shown true compassion and resolve.
They sacrificed in their day-to-day lives to protect our hospital capacity and keep one another safe.
They rallied to support the most vulnerable.
They showed true Ontario Spirit.
And when the miracle of vaccines arrived, not only did they roll up their sleeves to get their own shot.
They volunteered to help others get vaccinated as well.
To date, over 83 per cent of eligible people have received two doses of the vaccine.
And thanks to this incredible Team Ontario effort, we have safely and successfully begun to reopen Ontario.
Restaurants have welcomed back patrons for indoor dining.
Gyms and theatres, salons and stadiums, are back in business.
And teachers and students have returned to the classroom.
Our success belongs to our heroic health care workers. To our dedicated volunteers. To everyone who stepped up in this fight against COVID‑19.
And under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government has been there every step of the way.
Making every resource available to support their efforts against COVID‑19.
The 2021 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review continues to make $51 billion in supports available to fight the COVID‑19 pandemic and promote economic recovery.
This includes making available $1 billion for a provincewide vaccination plan that has seen Ontario achieve one of the highest rates of vaccination in the world.
Investing over $5 billion to support hospitals, creating more than 3,100 new and additional hospital beds, since the beginning of the pandemic.
Supporting the safe reopening and operation of over 4,800 schools with over $1.6 billion in additional COVID‑19 supports, including funding for improved ventilation and enhanced cleaning.
Over $1.5 billion to protect our loved ones in Ontario’s 626 long‐term care homes.
And $3 billion in urgent and unprecedented support to over 110,000 small businesses.
Now we are in a position to gradually lift all remaining public health measures in the upcoming months, while continuing to assess key public health indicators.
We have made incredible progress, but the job is not done.
This is a plan for Protecting Our Progress against the pandemic.
And it’s a plan that looks to the future. It’s a plan to Build Ontario.
Protecting Our Progress
Throughout the pandemic, our government has ensured that our frontline health care heroes had the resources they needed to confront this threat.
And when vaccines arrived in Ontario, we made more than $1 billion available for a provincewide vaccination plan, helping to ensure that shots were available in clinics, pharmacies and public health units across Ontario. As of October 18, 2021, over 10 million or 83 per cent of eligible individuals have been fully vaccinated with
both doses of the COVID‑19 vaccine.
But there is still work to do. The pandemic revealed years of neglect in our health and long-term care system.
And so our government is Protecting Our Progress.
Our government has a plan:
- To ensure hospitals continue to provide high-quality patient care by investing over $1.8 billion in 2021–22 to support 3,100 beds, reduce surgical and diagnostic imaging backlogs and help hospitals keep pace with patient needs.
- To add and upskill over 5,000 registered nurses and registered practical nurses, and 8,000 personal support workers to our hospital and health care system by investing $342 million.
- To hire 225 nurse practitioners in the long-term care sector by investing $57.6 million, beginning in 2022–23.
- To expand mental health and addictions support by investing $12.4 million over two years for frontline health and long-term care workers, whose service on the front lines of the pandemic has taken a toll on their physical and mental well-being.
- To expand home and community care by investing $548.5 million over three years, to help hospitalized patients continue their recovery and rehabilitation at home, where they are most comfortable.
- To increase enforcement capacity in long-term care homes, including hiring 156 additional inspectors to double the number of inspectors across the province by 2022–23. This investment will improve sector accountability and will help to ensure every long-term care resident experiences the best possible quality of life, supported by safe, high-quality care.
Building Ontario
Our government is laying the foundation for economic recovery, growth and job creation in every corner of our province. For too long, previous governments have allowed important projects to get bogged down in red tape.
They said no to building the highways, roads and transit that will reduce gridlock and get Ontario moving again. They did not do enough to fund high-speed internet.
Tomorrow’s prosperity depends on getting shovels in the ground today.
Our government is Building Ontario.
Our government has a plan:
- To fight gridlock and get Ontario moving again by investing in the construction of the Bradford Bypass, committing to build Highway 413, and making new investments in our highway rehabilitation and renewal program.
- To invest an additional $1 billion over the next five years in critical road, bridge, water, wastewater and stormwater projects in communities across Ontario.
- To work with First Nations and Northern communities to build the roads that will unlock the economic potential of the Ring of Fire.
- To support growing demands on the health care system by committing $30.2 billion over the next 10 years to build hospital infrastructure and to address longstanding challenges that stand in the way of patient care.
- To invest $3.7 billion, beginning in 2024–25, to build an additional 10,000 new long-term care beds and upgrade over 12,000 existing beds. This would bring total funding to $6.4 billion since spring 2019 — a historic investment that will lead to more than 30,000 net new beds and about 28,000 upgraded long‑term care spaces across the province.
- To continue our rapid progress on the largest subway expansion in Ontario history, including the Ontario Line, the three-stop Scarborough Subway Extension, the Eglinton Crosstown Extension and the Yonge North Subway Extension.
- To build new transit-oriented communities to bring more jobs and housing closer to transit, while reducing gridlock and the cost of building infrastructure for taxpayers.
Working for Workers
During the pandemic, essential workers kept store shelves stocked, our supply chains strong and built the life-saving equipment that supported our health care system.
But for too long, the workers of our province have been taken for granted. Under previous governments, well-paying manufacturing jobs left our province in droves. Take-home pay for many workers has not kept up with rising costs.
During the pandemic, the workers of Ontario had our back. And our government has theirs. We want Ontario workers in a race to the top, not a race to the bottom.
By increasing take-home pay, providing the opportunity to pursue new careers, and creating the right environment for job creation, our government is Working for Workers.
Our government has a plan:
- To raise the minimum wage for Ontario’s workers to ensure take-home pay can keep up with rising costs while supporting those who helped keep our economy moving throughout the pandemic.
- To build on Ontario’s $288.2 million investment announced in the 2021 Budget for this year, by investing an additional $90.3 million to enhance its Skilled Trades Strategy over a three-year period to encourage more young people to pursue rewarding careers in the trades.
- To propose an extension of the Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit and to expand the Second Career program, which supports workers who have limited prior work experience and need training to get a job.
- To invest $40 million in a new Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Competitiveness stream of the Regional Development Program to help attract investment and create stable, well-paying manufacturing jobs for Ontario workers.
- To help Ontario’s vibrant tourism sector, and the workers it supports, recover from the COVID‑19 pandemic while helping Ontario families get out and explore what our province has to offer through a proposed Ontario Staycation Tax Credit.
- To bring manufacturing jobs, including automotive manufacturing jobs, back to Ontario by reducing red tape, supporting innovation and leveraging Ontario’s highly skilled workers.
Our government recognizes that the pandemic is not over, which is why protecting our progress, and people’s health, remains our top priority.
And the qualities that saw our province through the worst days of the COVID‑19 pandemic — the spirit of the people of this province — will see us to a brighter, more prosperous future.
Our government has a plan for building a health care and long-term care system that delivers the quality of care that our loved ones deserve.
For building the highways, hospitals, housing and high-speed internet that will lay the foundation for future economic growth.
For building up workers, families, young people and newcomers who are all looking for opportunity in the economic engine of Canada.
And for acting as a prudent, responsible manager of the province’s finances, working towards a recovery that is driven by growth, not tax increases.
So our children and grandchildren will have the same opportunities enjoyed by previous generations.
It’s a plan to Build Ontario into the best place in the world to do business, work and raise a family.
That is our commitment to you — The People.
Original signed by
The Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy
Minister of Finance