A Plan to Protect Ontario
In the midst of tariffs and economic uncertainty, our government is delivering on our plan to protect Ontario and build the most competitive, resilient and self-reliant economy in the G7. Trade tensions, supply chain pressures and shifting market dynamics are sending unpredictable economic shocks through industries and economies everywhere.
Navigating these challenges requires a pragmatic approach — and the government’s prudent fiscal plan is more important than ever.
Our government’s plan to build a more competitive provincial economy includes a multi-year Tax Action Plan, which will attract investment, encourage economic growth and support job creation in the province. We are continuing to accelerate and invest in strategic priorities like energy, critical minerals, strong postsecondary and education sectors, key infrastructure and critical technologies to protect Ontario’s workers, families and businesses.
We are cutting red tape and speeding up permitting for major projects, and Ontario is leading the country in removing interprovincial trade barriers, while also attracting investments to create jobs and drive growth.
Ontario has a strong track record of prudent financial management and continues work to protect the path to balance by 2028–29 by pursuing opportunities to modernize programs, improve efficiencies, reduce red tape and ensure taxpayer dollars are being used responsibly. This work will also ensure that Ontario has the fiscal capacity to protect the province, unleash our economy and safeguard public-facing services.
Protect Workers and Businesses from Tariffs and Economic Uncertainty
Last year, when the U.S. government placed tariffs on goods, it brought unprecedented uncertainty to our economy and added pressure for many Ontario businesses and workers.
We acted quickly to protect Ontario from these economic impacts in April 2025 and since then, have announced nearly $30 billion in relief and support for workers and businesses. These measures went beyond temporary relief, including investments that continue to build long-term resiliency, prosperity and set a strong path forward for growth.
We swiftly established the Protect Ontario Financing Program to provide targeted working capital support. Since its launch, the program has worked with a number of companies, the majority of which are small and medium-sized enterprises. Working with the federal government, our government supported Algoma Steel to help it navigate changing market conditions and the impact of U.S. tariffs.
Building on this momentum, we are establishing the Protect Ontario Account Investment Fund, in which the province will invest up to $4 billion, to identify and execute on a pipeline of new economy-enabling investment opportunities in high-growth industries like artificial intelligence, defence, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, biotechnology and research and development in the critical minerals sector. The fund will crowd in investment from pension funds and other private capital to advance Ontario's long-term economic and strategic priorities. Together, these supports will diversify Ontario’s economy, enhance productivity, increase independence from U.S. trade relationships and reduce exposure to external economic uncertainty.
Ontario’s strong credit ratings, fiscal profile and professional approach to markets have contributed to unprecedented global investor demand for our debt and attractive interest rates with predictable, long-term costs.
We are helping to protect workers with the Protect Ontario Workers Employment Response (POWER) Centres, providing transition assistance, including referrals and access to Employment Ontario programs, for workers affected by layoffs. Last year, these centres helped nearly 15,000 workers.
And from April 1 to October 1, 2025, we made up to $9 billion available in liquidity relief to businesses through a six-month deferral of payments under select provincially administered taxes. This reduced short-term pressure on businesses during a period of economic uncertainty.
Protect Ontario by Building the Most Competitive Economy in the G7
Through key actions our government has taken and supported since 2018, businesses would benefit from nearly $10 billion in estimated cost savings and support this year. As part of our plan to make Ontario the most competitive jurisdiction not just in Canada, but in the G7, our government is delivering on a multi-year Tax Action Plan.
As part of this effort, we are proposing to cut Ontario’s small business corporate income tax rate by more than 30 per cent. This would provide up to $5,000 in annual tax relief to small businesses and build on actions already taken, including expanding access to the small business rate in 2023, helping to lower costs and protect Ontario’s small businesses.
The government would also lower the cost of doing business by accelerating the income tax deduction for the cost of equipment and other assets, subject to passage of federal legislation. Further incentivizing investment in these assets will help Ontario’s business competitiveness. This would provide over $3.5 billion in Ontario income tax relief over four years to qualifying businesses. By taking action to allow faster writeoffs of capital investments, the government would lower costs for businesses, creating the conditions that make Ontario an attractive place to start and grow a business.
In addition to tax competitiveness, we are leading the country in removing interprovincial trade barriers, cutting red tape and streamlining permitting processes for job-creating investments. These changes are strengthening economic integration across Canada and attracting strategic investments, helping to improve competitiveness and create new markets and opportunities for Ontario workers and businesses.
In October, we launched the One Project, One Process framework to speed up approvals for advanced exploration, mine development and mine expansion projects. To date, three major projects have been announced as accelerating through the framework: Frontier Lithium’s PAK Lithium Project, the Canada Nickel Company’s Crawford Nickel Project and Kinross Gold’s Great Bear Project. More projects are being onboarded in the coming months.
In partnership with First Nations, Ontario continues its plan to unlock the economic potential of the Ring of Fire by supporting the development of key infrastructure, including all-season, dependable road access and connections to provincial highways. Earlier this month, we released a plan to accelerate completion of construction on the all-season roads to the Ring of Fire five years ahead of schedule, with construction planned to start in June 2026 and roads beginning to open in November 2030. This plan is supported by agreements with three First Nations and a co-operation agreement with the federal government to eliminate duplication between provincial environmental assessments and federal impact assessments. Ontario continues to call on the federal government to match or exceed Ontario’s $1 billion funding commitments to support infrastructure in the Ring of Fire.
We are powering Ontario’s economic growth by making record investments in energy infrastructure. Ontario is leading nuclear expansion and is leveraging its nuclear advantage to advance opportunities here at home and globally. The government’s nuclear expansion plan is expected to create 150,000 new job opportunities and add over $800 billion to Canada’s economy.
We reached a significant milestone recently with the completion of construction on the refurbishment of the Darlington Unit 4 nuclear reactor, with the overall refurbishment project coming in ahead of schedule and $150 million under budget.
We are advancing planning for new large-scale nuclear energy generation. Last month, Ontario Power Generation signed an agreement for the Wesleyville nuclear project, which will support 10,500 jobs across Ontario, including 1,700 new good-paying jobs in Port Hope and contribute $235 billion to Ontario’s GDP over its lifespan.
Ontario continues to lead the G7 by building the first of four small modular reactors (SMRs) at the existing Darlington nuclear site; once fully licensed and built, these four SMRs will produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of 1.2 million homes, and the government is supporting this project with a $1 billion investment through the Building Ontario Fund.
Through the Protect Ontario Through Free Trade Within Canada Act, 2025, Ontario became the first province in Canada to remove all of its Party-Specific Exemptions under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), and we are also working to enable mutual recognition of goods and services and expand labour mobility with the new, first-in-Canada “As of Right” rules.
In January, we brought into force a historic labour mobility regulation that breaks down interprovincial barriers for workers and businesses and helps employers access the skilled Canadian workers they need sooner.
The government is also helping Ontario businesses expand into new markets. In November 2025, Ontario invested an additional $100 million into the Ontario Together Trade Fund (OTTF) to help businesses make near-term investments so that they can serve more interprovincial customers, enhance trade resiliency and reshore critical supply chains.
We are also working hard to support the expansion of trade and investment with non-U.S. partners.
The world has changed, and national defence is becoming an increasingly important pillar of Canada’s security and economic resilience as the federal government prepares to raise defence spending to meet its NATO commitments.
Ontario is well positioned to play a leading role in supporting national defence and has continued its advocacy for the City of Toronto to be selected as the headquarters of the new Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) by launching a comprehensive bid book outlining the city’s unique strengths to host the bank. The DSRB is expected to create up to 3,500 direct jobs, and support thousands of additional indirect jobs, which would benefit Toronto as well as the entire province and country.
Protect Ontario by Building
Ontario has a 10-year, over $210 billion plan to build Ontario — the most ambitious provincial capital plan in Canadian history. This historic capital plan includes investments to get shovels in the ground faster, create more construction jobs and lay the foundation for long-term growth and prosperity for communities across the province.
The costs of gridlock are real. Time stuck in traffic keeps people away from their families and delays the movement of goods for businesses and trade. Gridlock also costs Ontario $56 billion every year — a cost that is expected to rise to $108 billion per year by 2044 if no action is taken.
To fight gridlock and get people and goods moving, we have started construction on Highway 413, which is expected to shorten travel times for drivers by up to 30 minutes, and the Bradford Bypass, which will save drivers an estimated 35 minutes in travel time. We are also expanding existing highways and conducting a feasibility study to assess building a new expressway under Highway 401.
The government is also leading the largest expansion of public transit in North America, including through the recent opening of two new transit lines in Toronto.
We continue to expand GO train and bus services to make it easier and faster for people to get where they need to go within the Greater Golden Horseshoe. This includes extensions to Kitchener with the first-ever weekend service, more frequent train service to the Niagara Region, construction at Woodbine Station and early work on the Bowmanville GO Extension.
We are also building subways, with the largest subway expansion in Ontario’s history, and continuing to meet construction milestones on the Ontario Line, such as excavation work at Queen Station. Ontario is breaking ground on the first of three stations for the Scarborough Subway Extension and taking steps to get shovels in the ground for the Yonge North Subway Extension.
Protect Ontario by Keeping Costs Down
Families in Ontario have seen costs increase on everyday items, and those costs are increasing as a result of ongoing economic uncertainty caused by tariffs.
This is why the government acted early to provide relief and deliver on its objective to make life more affordable across the province.
We have helped make life more affordable by committing almost $11.9 billion to support families and individuals in the 2025–26 fiscal year alone.
The government is helping to keep electricity bills stable and predictable through programs such as the Ontario Electricity Rebate (OER) — decreasing monthly bills for a typical residential consumer by about $36 — and supporting other targeted programs such as the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP).
Last fall, to make new homes more affordable for first-time home buyers, we announced a proposal to remove the 8 per cent provincial portion of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) on homes valued at or up to $1 million. We are working with the federal government to expand the proposed rebate by having it take effect earlier, which would enable eligible buyers who purchased a new home on or after March 20, 2025, to qualify.
More can and should be done to provide real relief for home buyers.
To make housing more affordable, we are now taking steps to temporarily enhance HST rebates for all buyers of new homes. Ontario is proposing to remove the full 8 per cent provincial portion of the HST for eligible buyers of new homes valued up to $1 million for up to $80,000 in relief, and this amount would be maintained for new homes valued at or up to $1.5 million. This could stimulate thousands of housing starts, support up to 14,000 good construction jobs and boost Ontario real GDP growth by 0.2 percentage points.
While Ontario is moving first, we continue to work with the federal government to partner and match Ontario’s action to lower the cost of new homes, put money back into people’s pockets and create more jobs.
Our government’s cuts to the Gasoline Tax and Fuel Tax rates have been made permanent and have already saved individuals and families $2.1 billion since first introduced in July 2022.
To keep lowering costs, we permanently removed tolls from the provincially owned portion of Highway 407 East, saving commuters an estimated $7,200 annually. We are extending the One Fare program for an additional two years to continue to keep transit costs down for riders in the Greater Toronto Area. The One Fare program saves daily users up to $1,600 per year. Since launching in 2024, this program has saved the people of Ontario nearly $233 million.
Protect Ontario’s Borders and Communities
Our plan to protect Ontario includes keeping our streets and communities safe through policies that enhance border security, keep dangerous criminals off the streets and protect communities.
In January 2025, Ontario launched Operation Deterrence to enhance security at the border and address criminal activity affecting communities on both sides of the border. Since this launch, Ontario’s enhanced border enforcement measures have resulted in the tracing of over 550 illegal firearms, of which over 440 were traced to the United States, the seizure of 4,152 kilograms of cocaine and 192 kilograms of fentanyl and 641 charges laid through Ontario Provincial Police border-related patrols.
The province is further enhancing border policing capacity through Operation Deterrence 2.0 and is investing $32.5 million in 2026–27 for two new border security grant programs.
To hold offenders accountable and support victims of crime, the government is also exploring options to make part of the Ontario Sex Offender and Trafficker Registry publicly available, to give the public the information it needs to support safe communities.
Combined with historic investments in correctional capacity to guarantee space for high‑risk, repeat and violent offenders, these measures underscore Ontario’s commitment to keeping communities safe, supporting law enforcement and holding offenders accountable.
We are taking action to protect communities by proposing new legislation to strengthen Ontario’s bail system and tighten bail requirements for violent and repeat offenders. We are also expanding specialized bail prosecution teams that work with police to build strong cases for bail hearings involving serious offences. The government continues to support police services in ensuring that high-risk and repeat violent offenders comply with their bail conditions.
Protect Ontario’s Public Services
A strong, resilient economy helps support the world-class social services that families in Ontario count on. We continue to invest in our social services to further improve them so they can deliver on standards that the people of Ontario deserve.
We are providing $965 million, including $186 million in new funding, to the Ontario Autism Program in 2026–27 to improve services for children and youth on the autism spectrum.
As announced last December, the government is investing $20 million to launch the Liam Riazati Memorial Fund to help keep children safe in child care centres. This fund will support licensed community‑based facilities in their efforts to install preventive concrete barriers that protect these centres and their outdoor play spaces.
Our government is ensuring that student achievement always comes first in Ontario’s education system. By providing $66 million, or $750 for every elementary school homeroom teacher per school year through the Classroom Supplies Fund, we are helping teachers access the classroom materials they need to fit their teaching plans.
Last month, we took action to protect postsecondary education by announcing a transformative $6.4 billion in new funding for the postsecondary sector. This will ensure the sustainability of our colleges, universities and Indigenous Institutes, and help prepare graduates to develop the skills they need to find good-paying, rewarding careers. This funding will also ensure that the province’s world-class institutions are sustainable and continue to produce one of the most competitive workforces in the G7 for generations to come.
We also continue to make record investments in Ontario’s health care sector, thanks, in part, to our $64 billion plan. These investments include $50 billion in capital grants dedicated to building and upgrading hospitals and other health infrastructure. We are also delivering on our four-year $3.4 billion Primary Care Action Plan and other investments to build and expand medical schools to support the training of new doctors.
For the fourth consecutive year, our government is making a historic investment in hospitals with over $1.1 billion in additional funding, as well as $139.4 million in additional funding to long-term care homes, further strengthening health care in Ontario.
Ready to Protect Ontario
Ontario continues to navigate a period of global economic and geopolitical uncertainty. The year ahead could bring the potential of new challenges.
This is why our government is ready with a plan to protect Ontario — for today and for generations to come.
Our government continues to deliver on our plan to help create a province that is more competitive, more resilient and more self-reliant than ever.
We continue to take the steps needed to lower costs and protect Ontario businesses, while keeping costs down for families and individuals by supporting ongoing investments in key public services, job creation and the province’s long-term prosperity. We also remain focused on preserving the fiscal flexibility to adapt to changing conditions, in order to deliver a prudent and fiscally responsible outlook.
This is why we are also building to grow — creating new opportunities for workers, no matter what. That’s how we are protecting Ontario.
Our government is not only building new, large-scale nuclear facilities, we have also completed the first small modular reactor in the G7. We are speeding up approvals to build mines and unlock access to the critical minerals the world needs. We are diversifying our trade and building pipelines, rail lines and ports to connect Ontario to new markets.
We will continue building the infrastructure that supports growth, homes that are welcoming, and skills that yield opportunities.
We will manage finances responsibly, so Ontario remains competitive, resilient and self-reliant.
We will not only adapt to change — we will lead it.
We are building to make Ontario the most competitive economy in the G7.
Together, we will protect Ontario.
Original signed by
The Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy
Ontario’s Minister of Finance