Finance Minister Charles Sousa delivered the 2016 Ontario budget on Thursday. Here are some of the highlights.

Key points

  • Free tuition for low-income students
  • Eliminating $30 drive-clean emissions test fee
  • Cigarettes will cost more
  • Wine will cost more
  • Free shingles vaccine for seniors 65-70
  • Higher medication costs for seniors
  • New infrastructure funding
  • Cap and Trade system increases costs for drivers, homeowners
  • Projected deficit of $5.7B in 2015-16 ($2.8B lower than what was forecast in 2015 budget)

Education

  • Free tuition for students from families earning less than $50K
  • Minimal debt for low-income students
  • Non-repayable grants for more than 50 per cent of students from families making less than $83K
  • Grants in most cases greater than average tuition
  • Grants will be available up front
  • More financial support for mature and married students

Economic health

  • Projected deficit of $5.7B in 2015-16
  • Province on track to beat deficit target 7th year in a row
  • Balanced budgets projected between 2017 and 2019
  • (Last time provincial budget was balanced was in 2007)
  • Ontario’s GDP growth expected to outpace Canada’s average
  • Ontario’s real GDP growth projected at 2.5 per cent in 2015

Cap and Trade

  • Starts in 2017
  • Goal is to reach reduction targets for 2020 and 2030
  • Increased costs for drivers, homeowners
  • $5 more to heat an average home
  • An increase of about 4 cents a litre for fuel
  • Program would generate $1.9B each year
  • Investments towards energy efficient homes, business
  • Money towards funding innovation, infrastructure, clean technology

Infrastructure

  • Commitment to lowering price to UP Express
  • Non-presto users pay $12, Presto users, $9
  • Increased spending to $160B over 12 years
  • Includes $16B in 2016 for GTHA to improve GO Transit, LRT, HOT lanes

Health

  • Increased funding of $345M
  • Shingles vaccine free for Ontario seniors between 65-70
  • More money for cancer care services -- $130 million over three years
  • An additional $75 million to community based residential hospice and palliative care
  • $85 million to help recruit staff for primary care teams
  • $1 million for support services to help those who miscarry, lose infant
  • $178 million over three years to help end homelessness

Seniors

  • Changes coming to drug program on Aug. 1, 2016

   Good news

  • More low-income seniors will benefit from drug program
  • Income needed to qualify increased to $19,300

   Bad news

  • Seniors with income higher than $19,300 pay more for medicine
  • Drug deductible increase for seniors making more than $19,300
  • Deductible increases from $100 to $170
  • Co-payment to increase by $1, from $6.11 to $7.11

Cigarettes

  • Will cost $3 more per carton, or about 30 cents/pack
  • Increased tobacco taxes annually at rate of inflation beginning 2017
  • Will use $5M in new tobacco tax revenue to support services that help people quit smoking

Alcohol tax

  • Cost of wine going up
  • Cost will go up in 2017, 2018 and 2019
  • $13.95 wine bottle will cost $14.50 in 2019
  • Increase in minimal retail price for table wine to $7.95
  • It’s first wine markup since 1998
  • Ontario has lowest average wine prices in Canada

Unemployment

  • Ontario’s unemployment rate below Canadian average
  • Unemployment rate dropping since 2014
  • Unemployment rate was 6.7 per cent in Jan. 2016
  • Projected unemployment rate in 2019 is 6.1 per cent
  • 78,000 net new jobs projected in 2016
  • 300,000 new jobs between now and 2019
  • (900,000 new jobs over 10 years since 2009 recession)

Environment

  • Implementing Cap and Trade program
  • Financial support for homeowners who retrofit houses
  • Eliminate Debt Retirement Charge (DRC) for all electricity users in April 2018
  • Extending Industrial Accelerator Program (IAP) to 2020 to help businesses reduce electricity costs