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The Ford government is set to table its Fall Economic Statement on Thursday, a mini-budget document likely to focus on infrastructure and reveal the latest impacts of tariffs from the United States on Ontario’s economy.
Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy will unveil the fiscal update in the legislature around 1 p.m., parts of which have already been published.
In the build-up to the fall economic statement, the government announced it would waive its portion of the harmonized sales tax on new homes for first-time homebuyers up to the value of $1 million.
It also announced $1.1 billion in funding for home care projects, along with a major overhaul of election law in the province that will almost double donation limits and scrap fixed-term election dates.
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The document will also shed light on the state of the provincial economy, borrowing and projections for unemployment, growth and debt.
Reacting to the federal budget, tabled on Tuesday, Bethlenfalvy said Ottawa’s document “lacks some ambition” and did not do enough to protect auto jobs in Ontario.
“I’ve had people, workers, asking me, ‘What’s in the budget for Oshawa? What’s in it for Windsor, if you’re out of a job or being challenged in the auto sector?’” he said. “There isn’t much there.”
The Ford government has generally treated the fall economic statement as a mini budget with major new policies included. Last year, for example, the government announced $200 cheques for Ontario residents as part of the statement.
Bethlenfalvy, however, tempered expectations for the latest iteration.
“It is an update, not a budget,” he said on Wednesday.
— with a file from The Canadian Press
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