The Ontario government has released its 2024 budget which includes a plan to rebuild the economy, keeping costs down, improving community safety, and investments in health care, housing and recreation facilities.
To summarize the key points, Now Toronto has highlighted the government’s priorities in five categories: health care, crime, housing, recreation and the gas tax.
Health care
- The province will connect approximately 600,000 people to primary health care with a total additional investment of $546 million over three years.
- Over the next 10 years, the province is investing nearly $50 billion in hospital infrastructure, with close to $36 billion in hospital capital grants, that includes supporting over 50 hospital projects that would add 3,000 new beds over 10 years.
- An additional $128 million will go towards increasing nursing enrolments by 2,000 registered nurses and 1,000 registered practical nurses at publicly assisted colleges and universities.
- In order to address family doctor shortages, the government will create the first medical school in Canada that is primarily focussed on training family doctors. The York University School of Medicine will forge frontline primary care doctors.
Crime
- The government is investing $46 million over three years to buy four police helicopters and overall enhance public safety. The government says the helicopters will protect communities by keeping roads safe, locating missing persons, apprehending high-risk suspects and supporting marine units. It will also support increased patrols and improve response times to major incidents and serious crimes.
- To combat rising auto theft, the government is providing $49 million over three years to help police officers and support crime-fighting measures like the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Organized Crime Towing and Auto Theft Team, and Ontario’s Major Auto Theft Prosecution Response Team.
Housing
- To help build more homes, the government is investing $1 billion for the new Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program and $825 million for the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund to help municipalities repair roads and water infrastructure required for housing targets.
- The government is investing an additional $152 million over three years for individuals
facing unstable housing conditions and dealing with mental health and addictions challenges. The funding will be for various supportive housing initiatives designed to support vulnerable people such as providing rent supplements, maintaining supportive housing units, providing Indwell Community Homes funding, and maintaining supportive housing for Salus in Ottawa and the Canadian Mental Health Association in North Bay and District.
Recreation
- The government has introduced the new $200 million Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund to create new and upgraded sport and recreation facilities.
Gas tax
- In an effort to keep costs down for people and businesses, the government is proposing to extend the temporary cuts to the gas tax rate by 5.7 cents per litre and the fuel (diesel) tax rate by 5.3 cents per litre until December 31, 2024. This will save households $320 on average since the cuts were introduced in July 2022, according to the government.
