Open Ontario
Ontario’s Plan for Jobs and Growth
Ontario’s 2010 Speech from the Throne sets out a five-year plan to Open Ontario to new jobs and economic growth. The 2010 Budget proposes measures to chart a course to a stronger economic future for Ontario through:
- New student spaces in Ontario’s universities and colleges
- Support for the north
- Investing in infrastructure, clean energy, full-day learning and child care
- Responsible management of public resources.
Open Ontario Plan for Education
Open Ontario will support new jobs by investing in schools, colleges, universities and trades.
The goal is to raise the postsecondary attainment rate to 70 per cent.
- Funding 20,000 new student spaces in colleges and universities, starting in September.
- Every qualified Ontarian who wants to go to college or university will find a place.
Full-Day Learning
Open Ontario will make Ontario the first jurisdiction in North America with full-day learning for four- and five-year-olds.
- Full-day learning begins this September for up to 35,000 children in 600 schools.
Investing in Child Care
Ontario is stepping in to fill the gap left by the federal government by investing $63.5 million a year to fund child care and help:
- About 8,500 Ontario children stay in child care
- 1,000 child care workers keep their jobs.
Ontario’s Tax Plan for Jobs and Growth
The government launched the most significant tax reform in a generation, which will create jobs and open Ontario to new investment.
This year, Ontario has cut taxes and is moving ahead with the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST).
- Within 10 years, these and other measures will create nearly 600,000 new jobs, attract $47 billion in business investment and increase incomes by up to 8.8 per cent.
- Transition payments of up to $300 for individuals and $1,000 for families will help Ontarians adjust to the HST.
- Income taxes have been cut for 93 per cent of income tax payers.
Short-Term Infrastructure Investments
Record investments over two years for roads, bridges, transit, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure will create and preserve more than 300,000 jobs in our communities.
Jobs in the Green Economy
The Green Energy Act, 2009 will help create 50,000 new jobs over three years.
Open Ontario’s proposed new water strategy would protect Ontario’s water resources and promote jobs.
Open Ontario Northern Strategy
We’re investing about $150 million a year over three years to:
- Reduce electricity prices by almost 25 per cent for large industrial users
- Help preserve and create jobs.
We’re investing $45 million over three years for a new skills training program to help Aboriginal Peoples and northern Ontarians benefit from jobs in the Ring of Fire region.
- A Ring of Fire Coordinator will lead our collective efforts to advance the area’s economic promise.
To help with higher energy costs, we are introducing a Northern Ontario Energy Credit of up to $130 for single people and $200 for families annually.
This credit is in addition to the sales and property tax credits available province-wide.
Managing Responsibly
The Fiscal Plan
The government will cut the deficit in half in five years and eliminate it in eight years.
Internal operating expenses will be frozen at or below 2010-11 levels.
Compensation
To manage spending pressures and help redirect up to $750 million by 2011–12 to sustain public services like schools and hospitals:
- MPPs would take a three-year salary freeze, extending their current freeze for two more years
- The compensation structures for all non-bargained employees in the Broader Public Sector and Ontario Public Service would be frozen for two years
- Existing collective agreements will be honoured
- As collective agreements are renegotiated, the government will work with transfer partners and bargaining agents to seek agreements of at least two years’ duration
- The fiscal plan provides no funding for incremental compensation increases for any future collective agreements.
2010 Ontario Budget
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