Ontario’s 2025 budget outlines vital investments in rural communities, Perth-Wellington MPP Matthew Rae said on Friday morning.
The budget includes housing enabling infrastructure, primary care expansion and support for small businesses.
Rae said the Conservative provincial government will be there to “support families, workers, and communities during these challenging economic times.”
“Ensuring we continue to make life more affordable is obviously very important for our rural areas,” Rae told MyStratfordNow in an interview.
The Ford government has tabled a document that calls for a $14 billion deficit this fiscal year, with total spending topping $232 billion.
The government will spend $100-billion on infrastructure over the next three years, on everything from highways, to rail transportation, to new schools and medical facilities.
“I hear often from our local mayors and councils that infrastructure is one of the key catalysts — to see more homes built locally.
“So, happy to support those projects at the provincial level.”
There’s only a slight increase in funding for education and health care, below the rate of inflation.
The budget is cautiously forecasting slight economic growth over the next couple of years.
But it also adds that the impact of tariffs in the future remains uncertain.
The province said it will defer select provincially administered taxes for six months from April 1 to October 1, to help businesses weather economic turmoil caused by U.S. tariffs.
They also plan to invest $50 million, over three years, to create an Ontario Together Fund, to focus on expanding interprovincial trade and invest an additional $1 billion over the next three years in the Skills Development Fund Capital and Training Stream.
– with files from Norman Jack/Vista Radio
