A Plan to Protect Ontario – 2026 Ontario Budget
March 26, 2026
Today, Minister of Finance Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy introduced “A Plan to Protect Ontario” – 2026 Ontario Budget, highlight the steps our government is taking to deliver on our plan to build the most competitive, resilient and self-reliant economy in the G7 will investing in core services that residents of Carleton and Ontario depend on.
I am proud to continue to bring Carleton’s voice to the table in discussions about how to continue to invest in the people, families, and business across our riding. I’m pleased to share some of the highlights from the 2026 Ontario Budget below:
Table of Contents:
Economic and Fiscal Outlook in Brief
- Ontario’s real GDP is estimated to have increased by 1.2% in 2025, up from 0.8% at the time of the 2025 Budget
- Ontario’s net debt-to-GDP ratio is forecast to stay below the target of 40%
- Ontario’s interest-to-revenue ratio is projected to be 6.3% in 2025-26, 0.2% lower than the forecast in the 2025 Budget, and closest to the lowest levels since the 1980s
- Revenues are forecasted to increase from $226.2 billion in 2024-25 to $254.1 billion in 2028-29, while program expenses are forecasted to grow from $212.1 billion to $231.3 billion during the same time period
Protecting Ontario Workers and Businesses from Tariffs and Economic Uncertainty
- Our government is continuing to invest in Protect Ontario Workers Employment Response (POWER) centres. Last year ten of these centres helped almost 15,000 workers with services and supports including transition assistance, targeted training referrals and access to Employment Ontario Programs.
- Our government is proposing to cut the small business Corporate Income Tax (CIT) rate by over 30% to support small businesses. This would save over 375,000 qualifying small businesses a total of $1.1 billion in CIT relief over the next three years, with qualifying small businesses benefitting by up to $5,000 in additional tax relief each year.
- Our government is proposing to double the guarantee limit through the Pension Benefits Guarantee Fund from $1,500 a month to $3,000 a month, protecting over 635,000 members of defined benefit, single-employer pension plans in the event of employer insolvency.
Building the Most Competitive Economy in the G7
- Our government is continuing to take steps to position Ontario as a global nuclear leader, delivering key priorities expected to create 150,000 new job opportunities and add over $800 billion to Canada’s economy. This includes projects at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, Wesleyville and Bruce C nuclear site, to name a few.
- Our government plans to lower the costs of capital investments by allowing businesses to accelerate income tax deduction for depreciable assets, including 100% write-offs for manufacturing and processing machinery, greenhouse buildings, technology assets, zero-emission vehicles, and productivity-enhancing assets.
- Our government is continuing to take actions aimed at reducing regulation and red tape to save businesses and individuals time and money. Efforts to date have resulted in annual savings of $1.3 billion in compliance costs and 1.8 million hours in savings.
- Our government welcomed Marvell Technology’s investment of $238 million for a five-year expansion, which includes scaling of it’s semiconductor research and development operations in Ottawa. Our government is providing up to $17 million in funding through the Invest Ontario fund to support this initiative.
Capital Infrastructure Investments
Our government continues to have a bold plan to invest in capital infrastructure across our province in a variety of sectors, some of which is highlighted below:
- Taking the next steps to widen Highway 17 between Renfrew and Arnprior by issuing a Request for Proposals for the detail design of the expansion of the highway from two to four lanes.
- Our government recently replaced the Highway 416 culvert at the Roger Stevens Drive/Highway 417 interchange, as well as resurfacing various ramps on Highway 417 between Eagleson and Maitland.
- Our government is partnering with the City of Ottawa and Habitat for Humanity Greater Ottawa to build 33 modular townhomes at 40 Beechcliffe Street.
- Our government is providing an additional $300 million over six years through the Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund to meet the needs of growing communities by supporting the repair, upgrade or construction of sports and recreation facilities. This brings the total program funding to $500 million.
Saving Money for Ontarians
- Our government is proposing to enhance the provincial HST New Housing Rebate and New Residential Rental Property Rebate for one year. This would temporarily remove the 8% portion of HST for eligible buyers of new homes valued up to $1 million, providing up to $80,000 in savings to an eligible buyer. The proposal would mean purchasers who acquire a home as their primary residence could be eligible if they enter into an agreement of purchase and sale with a builder on or after April 1st, 2026 and on or before March 31, 2027. Construction of the home must begin on or before December 31, 2028 and the home must be substantially completed on or before December 31, 2031.
- Our government is also taking steps to align the effective date of the provincial rebate for first-time home buyers, announced in October 2025, with the federal government’s new earlier effective date of March 20, 2025. This would extend the rebate to purchasers who entered into agreements of purchase and sale on or after March 20, 2025 and before 2031.
- Our government permanently cut the Gasoline Tax rate by 5.7 cents per litre and the Fuel (diesel) Tax rate by 5.3 cents per litre, saving households around $115 each year.
- Our government is proposing new consumer protection measures that will make it illegal for tickets to concerts, cultural events, sports games, theatre performances and other live events held in Ontario to be resold for more than their original total cost, as well as undertaking a consultation to strengthen protections for consumers who participate in rewards points programs.
Investing in Public Safety
- Our government is extending the removal of tuition fees for Basic Constable Training at the Ontario Police College for an additional three years to support police services, including here in Ottawa, in their efforts to recruit and train more officers.
- Our government is continuing the partnership with the federal government to provide $121 million to prosecutors, the OPP, municipal police services and more to fight gun and gang violence.
- Our government is investing more than $41 million over the next three years to offer School Resource Officer programs across the province to help prevent and mitigate violence in schools.
- Our government is providing an additional investment of $11 million in 2026-26 to support the Provincial Strategy to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation on the Internet Grant.
- Our government increased funding for the Fire Protection Grant in 2025-26 from $10 million to $20 million, and we are maintaining this enhanced funding for the 2026-27 grant cycle to support fire services across the province, including here in Ottawa.
- Our government is constructing the new Eastern Ontario Correctional Complex, that will be able to accommodate for 235 inmates.
- Investing $32.5 million in 2026-27 to establish the Border Security Grant to enable municipal police services to acquire specialized assets, and the Border Integrity Investigation Fund to provide targeted operational funding to police services to address border-related enforcement gaps.
Investing in Healthcare
- Our government is investing an additional $325 million into the Primary Care Action Plan, with the goal of connecting everyone in Ontario to a family doctor or primary care team by 2029. Our government plans to connect 500,000 people to care in 2026-27, and since the launch of the plan, the Health Care Connect Waitlist has been reduced by over 87% as of March 2026.
- Our government will establish a Primary Care Medical Record system, which will form the foundation of a modern digital platform for primary care, replacing thousands of isolated systems with a connected system. This will mean primary care clinicians will have access to organized and comprehensive health information to make informed decisions, reduce delays in case, and avoid unnecessary duplication.
- Our government is investing over $1.1 billion in additional hospital funding for 2026-27, which includes an up to 4% increase in base and targeted hospital funding.
- Our government is investing an additional $1.1 billion over three years in the Hospital to Home (H2) program, to supplement the initial $1.1 billion investment and support patients with more home and communicate care services that they need.
- The Ontario Learn and Stay Grant is supporting students to cover the cost of tuition, books and other educational expenses for eligible health programs, including in Eastern Ontario.
- Our government is investing an additional $139.4 million in additional annual funding to support high-quality long-term care, including $95.3 million to maintain existing services and $44.1 million to ensure every resident continues to receive an average of four hours of direct care each day from nurses and personal support workers.
- Our government is expanding Équipe de santé familiale académique Montfort, an existing Francophone family health team, connecting over 800 patients as of December 2025.
Supporting Youth, Students, Education and the Most Vulnerable
- Multiple schools are projected to open in Ottawa for the 2026-27 school year, including:
A new French Catholic elementary school in Orleans which will serve 412 students and include 49 new licensed child care spaces
A new French public elementary school in Orleans which will serve 354 students and include 49 new licensed child care spaces
A new English public elementary school in Ottawa which will serve 674 students and include 39 new licensed child care spaces
- Construction on a new French public elementary school in Ottawa which will serve 467 students include 88 new licensed child care spaces is projected to have shovels in the ground.
- Our government is establishing a new long-term funding model that will bring an additional $6.4 billion into the postsecondary sector over four years, raising annual operating funding to $7 billion. This is a 30% increase and the highest level of funding in the province’s history.
This model will also fund 70,000 in-demand seats, building on over $2 billion in additional funding for colleges, universities and Indigenous institutes since 2024 to fund up to 20,500 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) seats per year.
- Our government is taking further action to improve services for children and youth on the autism spectrum by providing $965 million to the Ontario Autism Program in 2026-27, including $186 million in new funding to enable more children and youth to access core clinical services.
- Our government is investing in redeveloping the CHEO Integrated Treatment Centre, which will consolidate services and programs across eight locations into one modern, fully accessible facility connected directly with CHEO. Once operational in 2028, the centre will serve approximately 13,700 children and youth with special needs every year across Eastern Ontario.
- Our government is investing an additional $407 million over three years to help community organizations manage rising operational costs and continue delivering vital services to people who need them.
To read the full 2026 Budget, click here.