Ontario Adds $766M In New Program Spending Using Contingency Funds
THE DEFICIT PROJECTION FOR 2023-24 REMAINS AT THE $1.3 BILLION SET OUT IN THE SPRING BUDGET
Courtesy of Barrie360 and Canadian PressPublished: Aug 14th, 2023
Ontario spent about $766 million more than planned in the first quarter of this fiscal year, but the province’s bottom line is the same since nearly all of that new spending came from contingency funds.
In the financial update released today by Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy, the deficit projection for 2023-24 remains at the $1.3 billion set out in the spring budget.
Revenues and expenses are largely unchanged from the budget forecast, though a detailed look at the expenses sets out $766.6 million in new program spending.
About half of that is to develop industrial land for large-scale manufacturing, with money also going toward policing, flood protection in Toronto, affordable housing in Ottawa and Ontario’s wine sector.
The vast majority of the $766.6 million comes from the contingency fund, which the budget set at $4 billion.
Ontario’s fiscal watchdog has been critical of what he called this government’s unusually large contingency funds, saying that type of accounting is not transparent.
Patricia is the Business Mentor and owner of Grow Vantage and a Past President of the Barrie Chamber of Commerce. She applies over 30 years of business experience (from start-up to corporate) to mentor entrepreneurs. Since 2011, she has held over 6,500 coaching and training sessions in-person and online. Through Ask For Directions Training, her entrepreneurial training program (and parent company Grow Vantage), and as a business coach, she works with start-ups who are new (or who have lost traction) to design, launch and grow their businesses. Along with 20 other expert instructors she teaches strategies in marketing, sales, communications, and finance, as well as practical techniques to increase productivity, and manage their businesses. In other words, everything entrepreneurs need to learn to grow and run their businesses successfully, and avoid the costly mistakes they can't even see coming - that lead to delays in growth and getting stuck.
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