Highlights of the 2025 Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review: A Plan to Protect Ontario

Protect Workers and Businesses from Tariffs and Economic Uncertainty

• 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 $20 million in the Protect Ontario Workers Employment Response (POWER) Centres to provide access to training and upskilling to workers affected by, or at risk of, layoffs. For the first time, Ontario will be able to launch a centre proactively before a layoff has occurred with the ability to respond within 24 hours. This year, 10 of these centres were operational across Ontario, helping almost 15,000 workers.
• Ensuring communities and local industries get support to navigate challenges from trade disruptions through the Trade-Impacted Communities Program (TICP), which provides up to $40 million in funding, flexible and tailored to the needs of individual communities and local industries. The program supports community projects that improve local resilience, as well as large scale projects to grow and transform local clusters and industrial supply chains.

Protect Ontario by Building the Most Competitive Economy in the G7

• Rebating the full provincial portion of the HST for first-time home buyers of most new homes. Subject to 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.
• 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.
• Supporting local businesses and “Buy Ontario” by leveraging Ontario’s estimated $30 billion of annual procurement spend and focus investments on made-in-Ontario goods and services to boost investment attraction and strengthen the province’s supply chains.
• Strengthening Indigenous partnerships, fostering economic growth and supporting Indigenous participation in more sectors, through the Indigenous Opportunities Financing Program (IOFP). In the coming months, the Building Ontario Fund (BOF) with its enhanced $3 billion funding envelope in loan guarantees will begin engaging Indigenous communities and organizations, as well as infrastructure financing experts, on the expansion of the IOFP.
• Leading the way to unlock free trade within Canada by reducing barriers and driving immediate and meaningful action on internal trade. Through the Protect Ontario Through Free Trade Within Canada Act, 2025, the government is supporting trade and labour mobility across Canada, fostering economic integration and expanding opportunities for Ontario businesses and workers.
• 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.
• Making Ontario more competitive than ever by cutting red tape. The government introduced the Protect Ontario by Cutting Red Tape Act, 2025, which includes over 50 new changes to improve services, keep costs down, and protect Ontario’s economy. The government also introduced the Building a More Competitive Economy Act, 2025 to improve labour mobility and streamline government processes for permits and approvals. These proposals support the province’s goal of making Ontario the most competitive place in the G7 to invest, create jobs, and do business.
• Advancing Ontario’s $2.1 billion Primary Care Action Plan with unprecedented investments and rapid action to connect everyone in the province to primary care. Investments to build a convenient and connected comprehensive primary care system include $235 million in 2025–26 to create and expand over 130 primary care teams, $300 million over four years to build up to 17 new and expanded community-based primary care teaching clinics, and over $250 million to launch the next call for proposals to create and expand approximately 75 additional primary care teams.
• 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.
• Investing approximately $56 billion over the next decade in health infrastructure to enhance access to quality care and build a people-first health care system. This ambitious plan will support over 50 hospital projects and deliver approximately 3,000 new hospital beds.
• 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.
• Helping municipalities build up Ontario’s communities through the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program (MHIP) and Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF). The province has taken meaningful actions to support and strengthen local communities by investing an additional $1.6 billion through the MHIP to speed up construction on homes and critical infrastructure and completing the enhancement of the OMPF through a $100 million increase to the program over two years to help deliver critical services.

Additional Resources

Read the 2025 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review: A Plan to Protect Ontario