The Ontario government’s 2025 budget paints a grim picture of the province’s economic future in the face of U.S. tariffs. As CBC’s Mike Crawley explains, the province is battling falling revenues and a deficit that’s expected to more than double in size.
Doug Ford’s new budget is awash in red ink, with a $14.6-billion deficit planned for the next fiscal year largely to deal with the economic pain of a trade war with the United States.
The $232-billion budget delivers on a promise the premier made during his re-election campaign in February to spend big on tariff relief programs. It also presents a starkly different picture of Ontario’s financial future than the one shared in the 2024 fall economic statement, with a longer path to balance.
“Now is the time to invest in business and workers as we face this challenge, it is not the time to take our foot …