5 key things that the Ontario PC government wants to implement
Building Ontario’s economy, protecting workers, keeping Ontario competitive, cleaning up our streets, delivering better care and services
Building Ontario’s Economy
- Creating and protecting jobs
- 1 million more people are working now opposed to 2018, and taking home larger cheques
- Large investments have been made in various sectors to open job opportunities
- Trump’s tariffs put all this at risk
Immediate support for workers, businesses, and communities hit by tariffs
Protect Ontario account - $5 billion:
- A large emergency fund to support major industries and workers affected by the tariffs
Businesss tax deferrals - $10 billion:
- Six-month deferral from provincial business taxes (gives companies financial relief)
Tax and payroll relief - $3 billion:
- Temporary tax and premium cuts for employers and small businesses
- Lowers operating costs to keep employees employed
Bar and restaurant support - $120 million
- LCBO wholesale discount raised from 10% to 15% for up to 18,000 bars and restaurants
Trade impacted communities program - $40 million
- Helps towns and communities recover from major job losses or supply chain stocks
- Develops new markets/industries
“Buy Ontario” procurement strategy
- Ontario government prioritzes Ontario-made goods for public projects
Government has to be ready to support employees by
- Fairly and quickly distributing retaliatory tarriff and revenue charges back to hurt businesses or those who lost their jobs
- Essentially canada will impose tariffs on the US, and with the extra revenue gained, will return it back to those who were affected - Expand worker protections
- Strengthen programs that protect laid-off workers due to tariff impacts
Speeding up our plan to build to keep workers on the job
President Trump’s tariffs will take direct aim at key sectors like manufacturing, construction and transportation. We’ll invest to keep those workers on the job with an additional $22 billion infrastructure investment across:
- Roads and highways
- Transit systems
- Hospitals and schools
Fighting Gridlock to Protect Ontario’s Economy
With Trump’s tariffs threatening Ontario’s economy, PC government links faster transportation time to a better economy, as the faster goods and people move, the stronger the economy is.
- Traffic gridlock causes Ontario over $56 billion a year
- Gridlock hurts workers, families and businesses
- Ontario PC government plans to:
- Build new highways to reduce congestion and improvement in the movement of goods
- Remove bike lanes from streets they do not belong
- Invest nearly $70 billion in transit expansion
Building the true, north, strong and free
“The PC government wants Canadians and the government to work together to strengthen Canada’s economy and resource development”
- Advocate for pipelines, rail lines and major projects that help export oil, gas, minerals to new markets
- Removing unnecessary federal barriers:
- PC’s criticize federal impact assessment laws for being duplicative and slow
- Removing this speeds up processes and speeds up approvals - New federal and internal trade policy
- Create a long-term federal infrastucture fund to diversify Canada’s economy by improving how goods move within and beyond the country
- Ontario wants faster, easier access to federal money for infrastructure that boosts trade
Trade within Canada needs to be as free as trade outside of Canada
- Ontario will remove their remaining trade exemptions, meaning Ontario will be fully open to goods and services from other places
- Mutual recognition
- If a product or service is approveed in one province, it should automatically be accepted everywhere in Canada - Allow direct-to-consumer sales
- Ontario wants to work to ship alcohol across provinces - Streamline credential recognition
- Professsional licenses across provinces are accepted
- Ex: a nurse from Ontario can work in BC
- Reduce rules that block or delay workers from moving between provinces - Ontario Together Trade Fund
- Support companies that invest to reach more customers in other provinces, develop new markets in Canada, and re-shore back to Ontario to make supply chains more secure
Protecting workers by investing in skills development
- Centers around workers, and aiming to protect and grow Ontario’s labour force in the face of U.S tariffs
- Focuses on skills training, programs, apprenticeships, expanding education…
- Ensures that Ontarians can access good jobs
The PC government will redouble its efforts to keep costs down for people in Ontario so they have more money to spend on everyday essentials
- Removing tolls on highways to lower costs for drivers
- Oppose federal carbon tax
- Freeze beer tax and the minimum retail alcohol prices
Attracting more investment to create jobs
- PC will invest $600 million more to the Invest Ontario Fund, bringing it to $1.3 billion
- The fund attracts new businesses and investors to Ontario and creates jobs
Protecting Ontario’ borders
- Operation Deterrance
- Partnership between the Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP
- Focused on illegal border crossings, gun smuggling and fentanyl trafficking
- Goal: Build a coordinated federal-provincial law enforcement strategy to block smuggling routes - Enhanced Border Surveillance
- $50 million to expand the OPP Join-Air Support Unit
- Adds two new H-135 helicopters for patrols and security support at Niagara and Windsor (two major entry points)
- Goal: use surveillance to increase coverage and response speed acros major border regiogns - Harsher penalties
- Push for mandatory minimum sentences for drug traffickers
- Make landlords legally responsible if they knowingly rent to drug producers
Financial Crime
- Work with government and financial regulators to audit banks, credit unions, and financial institutions for suspicious activity
- Uncover cartel money laundering and organized crime finanacing
- Goal: cut off financial networks that fund cross-border crime
Controlling drug production:
- Stopping drug trades at its earliest stages
Increase inspections of shipping containers from China, which is a major source of fentanyl
Making park and public places safe again
PC government aims to restore safety and cleanliness in Ontario’s parks, streets, and public spaces (addiction recovery, housing, law enforcement)
Drug consumption site restrictions
Enforce the ban of drug consumptiton sites within 200m of schools or child-care centres
Homelessness and recovery treatment hubs
- $530 million investment to create 27 new HART hubs across Ontario
- Provide addiction treatment and recovery services
Managing homeless encampments
- Provide $75 million to help municipalities and police manage homeless encampments and improve public safety
- Funds will support
- Long term stable housing
- Temporary accomodations
- New enforcement tools to handle illegal drug use
Safer municipalities act
- A newly proposed law by mayors across Ontario
- Gives municipalities authority to increase penalties for repeat trespassers and ban illegal drug consumption in public spaces
Keeping criminals behind bars
- PC Government’s central message is that Ontario needs tougher laws and stronger enforcement to keep communities safe
- Ex: mandatory sentences, restricted bail, three strike rule: criminals not allowed back on the street before court date - Provincial level
- More police
- More training
- More and modernized jails
- Modernized court system
- Gps tracking technology for offenders
Amount spent on annual healthcare in 2024-2025
$85 billion
Amount spent to upgrade/build 50 hospitals in Ontario
$50 billion
Amount spent this year to transform care homes
$2 billion
Proportion of people in Canada who have a healthcare provider
90%
Healthcare: Access, training and convenience
- PC’ healthcare vision is to make care local, faster and more accessible
- Investing $1.8 billion to connect two million more Ontarians to a family doctor or primary-care team
- Opening two new medical schools and adding hundreds of new medical and residency spots to train doctors at home
Convenient/Modern care
- Expand pharmacists, nurses and physiotherapist roles so people can get treatment closer to home
- Invest $66 milliion in community surgical/diagnosis centres to reduce surgery backlogs and waiting times
