On May 15, 2025, The Government of Ontario tabled its 2025 budget, A Plan to Protect Ontario, amid ongoing economic uncertainty, shifting international trade dynamics, and low productivity. With total expenses projected at $232.5 billion and revenues at $219.9 billion, the province anticipates a deficit of $14.6 billion for 2025–26. The path to balance the budget is now expected by 2027–28.
While the budget outlines continued investments in health care, education, and infrastructure, they do not keep pace with inflation, population growth, or the rising costs of service delivery amid a high cost-of-living environment and broader economic pressures.
As economic stresses continue to shape spending, there remains an important opportunity to strengthen investments in Ontario’s public services and social safety net.
United Way East Ontario will continue to assess how changes in spending may affect local programs and supports. We will advocate for investments that reflect the needs of people and communities across the region.
By Preeti Prabhu, Senior Director of Public Policy, Government and Stakeholder Relations, United Way East Ontario
Here’s a high-level look at what was outlined in the 2025 A Plan to Protect Ontario budget, with a focus on what it could mean for Ontario’s care economy and the communities we serve.
In Ontario’s 2025 budget, Dr. Jane Philpott’s Primary Care Action Team is receiving a substantial investment of $2.1 billion. This initiative aims to connect every person in the province to a family doctor and primary care team. Notable allocations include:
- $280 million over two years to support the expansion of Integrated Community Health Service Centres.
- $235 million in 2025–26 to establish and expand primary care teams, with the goal of connecting 300,000 more people to primary care this year.
Community Health
- $550 million over 4 years to support the creation of 28 Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs across Ontario.
- As of April 1, 2025, 9 former drug injection sites including two in Ottawa, have transitioned into HART Hubs: one at Somerset West Community Health Centre, and the other at Pinecrest Queensway Community Health Centre.
- These hubs provide addiction and mental health services, primary care, social and employment supports, supportive housing units and addiction recovery and treatment beds to help clients transition to stable housing.
Mental Health
- Community-Based Mental Health and Addictions Services
- $303 million over three years to stabilize the sector.
- Includes a 4 per cent base funding increase for community-led and delivered mental health programs.
- Investments of $175 million for the Ontario Autism Program in, 2025–26 to improve services for children and youth with autism.
- Funding for services and housing for people with disabilities and seniors, including a $3 million commitment for senior veterans and increased funding for active living programs for seniors.
- The 2025 budget maintains annual inflation indexation for ODSP core allowances and continues the increased earnings exemption for recipients with disabilities (Chart 1.7 below). However, there are no new rate hikes or one-time boosts beyond changes made since 2022. The maximum ODSP rate for a single person remains $1,368 per month—about 40% below Canada’s official poverty line. The budget does not clarify whether ODSP will be reduced when recipients start receiving the new $200/month federal Canada Disability Benefit in July 2025, despite calls from advocacy groups and municipalities to prevent such clawbacks.
Ontario’s unemployment rate has increased to 7.5 per cent, as of March 2025. That’s up from 5 per cent in April of 2023.
Investments in this area include skills training, targeted supports for laid-off and trade-impacted workers, and enhanced access to employment programs. $1 billion has been allocated to Skills Development Fund, over three years for training programs and upgrading/building new training centres for skilled workers across Ontario.
The province is investing more than $30 billion over the next decade to support new and redeveloped schools and childcare projects (Chapter 1B, Delivering Services). This plan includes both new construction and major upgrades to existing facilities. Ontario continues to participate in the federal-provincial agreement to provide $10-a-day child care. The federal government has announced an extension of these agreements until 2031, with a 3% annual funding increase starting in 2027–28 to help keep up with rising operational costs. Ontario will receive $16.77 billion in federal funding as part of this renewed commitment.
Despite worsening rates of people experiencing homelessness and an increase in chronic homelessness, provincial spending on housing and homelessness has remained largely unchanged. In January 2025, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) released a report that unveiled the unprecedented and growing toll of homelessness on individuals, families, communities, and governments. It highlighted that more than 80,000 Ontarians were known to be homeless in 2024, a number that has grown by more than 25 per cent since 2022. It cautioned that without a significant intervention, homelessness in Ontario could double in the next decade.
The budget provides $400M through the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program (MHIP) and the Housing Enabling Water Systems Fund (HEWSF) to build the local infrastructure needed to enable new housing. The budget allocated:
- $50M over five years through Invest Ontario to grow capacity in modular housing construction
- Up to $5B in funding to the Building Ontario Fund (BOF) to co-invest in priorities like municipal infrastructure, long-term care, energy infrastructure, and affordable housing
We will continue to track how much of these investments are earmarked for East Ontario region including our rural and remote communities.
It’s important to note that as highlighted by housing experts and advocacy groups, after adjusting for inflation and population growth, the province is spending only slightly more than a decade ago, with the 2024–25 figure under $1.5 billion compared to $1.3 billion in 2013–14. In response to the growing housing crisis, municipalities and the federal government have increased their contributions, leaving local governments to manage rising pressures with limited resources.
Our work continues
Both Canada and Ontario are taking important steps to address the economic impacts of newly imposed U.S. tariffs. While we recognize this may be a key area of focus for the province in the short term, we encourage continued recognition of the sector’s vital role in supporting hard working Ontarians through times of crisis and uncertainty.
As we continue to review the details of funding opportunities related to the care economy, we note that this budget does not fully address the long-standing underinvestment in core public services and social programs. We remain committed to working in partnership with the province to ensure that communities across Ontario have access to the supports they need to thrive.
