Today, the Government of Ontario released their budget for the 2023 fiscal year, entitled Building a Strong Ontario. TIAO will be analyzing the contents of the budget in the coming days. So far, key highlights include: expanding access to the small business Corporate Income Tax rate; conducting a review of Ontario’s tax system to make Ontario an attractive place for businesses to invest and grow; investments to reinstate the Northlander passenger rail service between Timmins and Toronto; and additional investments in homelessness prevention programs.
Additional highlights of the 2023 Provincial budget:
Small Business
- Proposal to lower costs for more small businesses by expanding access to the small business Corporate Income Tax (CIT) rate
- The small business limit phase-out would be increased from between $10M and $15M of taxable capital to between $10M and $50M
- Apply to taxation years that begin on or after April 7th, 2022
- About 5,500 of Ontario’s small businesses would be provided with additional Ontario income tax relief of $265M from 2022-23 to 2025-26 ****
Business Support
- Conducting a review of Ontario’s tax system to make Ontario an attractive place for businesses to invest and grow
- Providing an additional $2M in 2023-24 to Futurpreneur Canada to help entrepreneurs aged 18-39
- Investing an additional $15M over 3 years for the Racialized and Indigenous Supports for Entrepreneurs (RAISE) Grant Program
- Providing an additional $1M per year for 3 years to Invest Ottawa starting in 2023-24 to expand a Regional Innovation Centre hub for Eastern Ontario
Labour
- $224 million for a new capital stream of the Skills Development Fund to leverage private-sector expertise and expand training centres, including union training halls to provide more accessible, flexible training opportunities for workers
- $25M over three years to enhance the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program
- Ontario’s allocation of Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program nominations will increase to over 18,000 by 2025 to fill targeted labour market gaps in in-demand industries
Northern Ontario
- Committing just under $1B to support critical legacy infrastructure such as all-season roads, broadband connectivity, and community supports to the Ring of Fire
- Investing $139.5M for three new trainsets to reinstate the Northlander passenger rail service between Timmins and Toronto
- Providing nearly $2B over five years, beginning in 2021-22 to help 425 small rural and Northern communities to construct and repair community infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water and wastewater infrastructure ****
Infrastructure
- Providing an additional $5M in annual funding for Winter Roads Program enhancements
- Investing in Go Transit to improve access and convenience across the Greater Golden Horseshoe and into Southwestern Ontario
- Redeveloping Ontario Place: modernizing the site and preparing land for development
- Investing nearly $4B to ensure every community across the province has access to high-speed internet by the end of 2025
Housing
- Creating the Streamline Development Approval Fund to provide more than $45M and increasing the Non-Resident Speculation Tax to 25 percent
- Investing an additional $202M each year in the Homelessness Prevention Program and Indigenous Supportive Housing Program
Clean Energy
- Launching a voluntary Clean Energy Credit registry to boost competitiveness and attract jobs
- Continuing to provide more than $6.5B in electricity price relief for both people and businesses under the Comprehensive Electricity plan, Ontario Electricity Rebate, and other targeted programs like the Northern Energy Advantage program
Consumer Costs
- Eliminating double fares for most local transit when using GO Transit services and working to expand this initiative to support more people using public transit to come into Toronto
- Extended the current gas tax and fuel tax rate cuts, keeping the rates at 9 cents per litre until December 2023
To review the full 2023 provincial budget, please see here.