Premier Doug Ford announced his government will be going ahead with major changes to municipal funding, but also promised transitional cash as part of the plan.
Ford spoke at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario Monday morning, after news municipalities will have to pay 30 per cent of public health care costs and 20 per cent of creating new child care spaces starting January 1st.
"We can't continue throwing money at the problem as our predecessors did into top-down, big government schemes, that is neither compassionate or sustainable," Ford said in Ottawa. "
The Progressive Conservative government had initially tried to force retroactive funding cuts but cancelled them after backlash from municipal leaders, who said their annual budgets had already passed.
"I'm a true believer in empowering municipalities," he said. "I was a municipal councillor and I used to have some real choice words about Queen's Park, I did and so I've walked a mile in your shoes."
Ford said the new transitional funding would assist in the budgeting process for 2020, but it's unclear exactly what the funding will be and how they will vary depending on the size of the municipalities.
Toronto Mayor John Tory said the latest changes are an improvement on previously planned proposals and that Toronto Public Health will "no longer receive differential treatment from other municipalities."
He said he'll to review the details specifically on child care.
"The City could still face significant impacts to its budget next year," he said in a statement.
The Large Urban Mayors' Caucus of Ontario (LUMCO) said in a statement that it's "cautiously optimistic" the transitional funding will help.
“We appreciate that transitional funding will soften the blow for 2020, but LUMCO mayors are concerned that we will still face significant cuts to services like public health and child care in 2021," LUMCO Chair and Mayor of Guelph, Cam Guthrie said.