Ontario fiscal update may focus on infrastructure, jobs

TORONTO — Ontario is set to table a fiscal update Thursday that is expected to focus in part on infrastructure and protecting jobs, while this week’s federal budget has renewed calls for the province to boost post-secondary funding.

Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said Wednesday that Ottawa’s financial plan “lacks some ambition,” particularly in infrastructure spending and insulating workers from the impacts of U.S. tariffs.

“I’ve had people, workers, asking me, ‘What’s in the budget for Oshawa? What’s in it for Windsor, if you’re out of a job or being challenged in the auto sector?'” Bethlenfalvy said. “There isn’t much there.”

That focus may provide a glimpse of the themes of the fall economic statement, which often serves as a mini budget.

Bethlenfalvy has already made a few pre-fall economic statement announcements, including an HST rebate for some first-time homebuyers and $1.1 billion for home care. As well, changes to election rules including scrapping fixed election dates and raising the political donation limit to $5,000 are set to be in the economic statement bill.

Critics and the post-secondary sector are also calling for the province to invest more in Ontario’s colleges and universities, especially in light of the federal government announcing in its budget it is cutting the number of student visas in half, to about 150,000.

Ontario post-secondary institutions, colleges in particular, became heavily reliant on revenue from international student tuitions due to a tuition fee freeze in 2019 and low levels of public funding over many years.

The federal cut to the number of international students is just the latest reduction in a series of them over the past few years and institutions have said that an additional $1.3 billion over three years from the province starting last year and $750 million to fund 20,000 post-secondary seats in STEM areas is not enough.

Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn said Wednesday there is an ongoing funding formula review, but did not commit to any increases. The federal announcement was “another hit” to the sector, he said in question period.

“We hear from everyone across the province that the federal government’s unilateral decisions when it comes to our international students has caused chaos right across the whole province and country,” Quinn said.

Colleges Ontario said in a statement that the further cut to international student numbers marks a 73-per-cent drop since 2023 and could cut colleges’ international tuition revenue up to $2.5 billion.

The sector has already cut $1.8 billion, suspended 600 programs and eliminated 8,000 positions, Colleges Ontario wrote.

“This further destabilizes colleges in Ontario and the communities they serve, underscoring the urgent need for Ontario to complete its funding formula review and respond to federal policies,” the colleges wrote in the statement.

The Council of Ontario Universities said the student visa cuts have caused universities to lose $1 billion in revenue and the system “has reached a breaking point.”

“Even after significant cost cutting and program closures, Ontario universities are projecting $265 million in deficits in 2025-26, with growing deficits in the years ahead,” council president and CEO Steve Orsini wrote in a statement.

“To protect and grow Ontario’s economy, the government must ensure universities have sustainable funding.”

Bethlenfalvy would only say the province has been supporting the post-secondary sector and “we will be updating our numbers tomorrow through the fall economic statement.”

The government projected earlier this year in its first quarter finances that the province would have a $14.6-billion deficit this year.

But in a speech earlier this week, Bethlenfalvy noted how the province ended last year with a deficit of $1.1 billion, significantly smaller than the $9.8 billion it had projected.

He also touted a debt-to-GDP ratio that is the lowest it’s been in a decade and falling costs of servicing the province’s debt, suggesting the books may be improving.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2025.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press