2010 Ontario Budget Briefing

In its 2010 budget, the Ontario government promises another year of fiscal stimulus, consistent with the second year of stimulus included in the recent federal budget. The budget also contains some immediate initiatives, such as the plans to freeze public sector wages and reduce the size of the Ontario public service by 5 per cent. Some other highlights:

• Budget 2010 launches a general fiscal-restraint plan, but falls short on providing detailed health-care restraint measures.
• Most of the spending restraint delayed until after 2011–12.
• The economic impacts of the 2010 Ontario Budget are sufficiently small that they will not affect our medium-term outlook for real GDP growth.