Matthew Rae believes the provincial budget can benefit communities in Perth-Wellington.
The budget, released Thursday afternoon, noted a projected deficit of $12.3 billion for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
The budget includes investments in healthcare, education and infrastructure, while providing tax relief for families.
In an interview with MyStratfordNow, Rae said there will be an extra $1.1 billion for hospitals.
“Healthcare has been a bigger point of item since our government took office, but now it is approaching $100 billion so it’s a significant investment,” said Rae.
“It was great to see the $1.1 billion extra for Home and Community Care because I hear that often from constituents about the need to have care in the community. We have a rural and large riding, so not everyone can necessarily get to Listowel/Stratford where the hospitals may be located, so having that extra support locally was great to see as well.”
He added other investments will also support the Hospital Renewal infrastructure Program, which helps hospitals in Stratford, St. Marys and Listowel upgrade air conditioning and ventilation.
Along with $101.2 billion for healthcare, the $244.2 billion budget includes $40.8 billion for education and $14 billion for post-secondary.
In the education sector, Rae said the budget will help the St. Marys Catholic Elementary School expand and welcome more students and more child care in Listowel.
“We announced $66 million, which will flow directly to teachers to purchase supplies for their classrooms, which is great to see,” said Rae.
“With identifying new capital projects, that is really driven by the school board, so Avon Maitland/Huron-Perth Catholic and they identify some of those needs. It’s working with our school boards to identify those potential, future projects.”
Other investments to support Perth-Wellington includes cutting the small business tax rate by one percent to 2.2 percent to help lower costs for small businesses, $4 billion to support water and wastewater infrastructure, and holding the line on taxes.
The government said the budget will help protect Ontario by building the most competitive economy to invest, create jobs and do business in the G7 by cutting red tape, streamlining permits, removing interprovincial trade barriers, investing in infrastructure, and supporting workers.
The province said the deficit will go up to $13.8 billion for 2026-2027, down to $6.1 billion the following year, before planning for a surplus of $600 million in 2028-2029.
