The provincial Liberals are loading their election budget with pricey health and childcare promises in a bid to entice voters to return them to the government benches in June.
The spending plan unveiled Wednesday pledges dental and prescription drug coverage for Ontarians without an extended health plan or OHIP+ coverage beginning next summer.
The program would reimburse up to 80% of eligible benefits a maximum of $700/year for a family of four, $600 for a couple and $400 for a single person.
The province is also pledging up to $750/year in a benefit to Ontarians over the age of 75 to help them with the costs of living comfortably and independently at home.
The measures come in addition to string of health and childcare announcements made by Premier Kathleen Wynne over the last week:
-$575 million/year by 2021 for pharmacare for seniors
-$2.1 billion in increased mental health funding
-$822 million to hospitals to ease overcrowding and reduce wait times
-$2.4 billion to Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children to design and build a new patient care centre
-$2.2 billion over three years to make childcare free for kids aged 2.5-4 years
But augmenting health and childcare comes at a price to the province’s bottom line.
If re-elected, the Liberals expect to run six years of deficits before returning to balance in 2024-25. The government’s projects deficits of $6.7 billion in 2018-19, $6.6 billion in 2019-20 and $6.5 billion in 2020-21.
A tweak to the tax structure means 1.8 million Ontarians considered to be higher income earners will pay more some $200 more in personal income tax. Those with a salary earning roughly $71,500/year or more will likely be hit some kind of increase.
Under the proposal, someone earning $95,000/year and claiming basic non-refundable tax credits will see their personal income tax rise by $168. Someone with a salary of $75,000 may pay as little as $6 in income tax.
The government says most tax filers, 8.6 million of them, won’t see any change at all while some 680,000 will see their personal income tax drop by about $130.
The trend of increasing taxes on tobacco is continuing. The cost of a carton of 200 cigarettes will increase by $4 on March 29 and by another $4 in 2019.
THE COST OF FLYING
The province is planning a review of payments made by airports in lieu of property taxes to their host municipalities.
While business has boomed at airports including Pearson International, the payments calculated based on the number of passengers that pass through an airport each year have not changed since 2001.
Provincial officials could not say if a higher rate of payment to municipalities was likely to be passed on to travellers through higher airline ticket prices.
TRANSIT FARE HELP
The province plans to give regular transit commuters who use a second municipal transit system to connect with the TTC a break on their fares to the tune of $720 a year.
The government says it will collaborate with the TTC, Brampton Transit, Durham Region Transit, MiWay, and York Region Transit on a deal that could save riders as much as $1.50/trip.
The province announced a parallel arrangement for PRESTO users switching between the TTC and GO earlier this year.
The discounts would be funded through carbon tax revenues.
There are more goodies for GO Transit users.
The province plans to make all trips for PRESTO users on GO Transit within the city of Toronto for trips shorter than 10 km anywhere on the GO network a flat $3.
PRESTO cardholders using GO to move between Union Station and terminals in Ajax, Malton, Markham, Pickering and Port Credit will also see their fares reduced.
LIFE IN THE GREATER TORONTO HAMILTON AREA
-Talking with the city of Toronto about whether provincial ownership of TTC subway lines could provide better service and cost-sharing
-Creating a Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area Fund to invest in and support small and medium-sized business. A $100 million investment over 10 years is projected to create and maintain 19,000 jobs and $800,000 in investments.
-Giving the city until June 30 to pass a bylaw to change the composition of council ahead of the municipal election this fall.
-Inspired by battle over sky-high property taxes at 401 Richmond St W, give the city the authority to reduce property taxes by up to 50% for facilities offering affordable spaces for the arts and culture community.
HELPING MARGINZALIZED COMMUNITIES
-Spending $1.8 billion over three years to strengthen services for adults with developmental disabilities
-Spending $2.3 billion over three years to boost social assistance, including increasing rates for recipients of Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program by 3% a year for the next three years.