Toronto, ON – The Financial Accountability Office (FAO) has released its analysis of the 2025 Ontario Budget, confirming what many Ontarians already feel in day-to-day life: the province’s economic outlook is worsening, and the government’s budget choices are falling short.
The FAO report finds that economic growth is slowing, provincial debt is rising, and the Ford government continues to prioritize corporate subsidies and long-term capital projects over investment in key public sectors that hold up our communities.
Among its key findings, the report identifies that the government’s planned 3.0% spending growth is less than the combined rate of inflation and population growth (3.3%).
This means the province is reducing real per-person investment in services like health care, post-secondary education, and social support even as the demand for those services grows.
The consequences are already visible. Ontario’s 24 public colleges already face a funding crisis, with public funding for our college system at 56% of the national average. A further decrease in spending is projected over the next three years, threatening student success and our communities that depend on the social and economic safety net provided by our colleges.
The chart below, taken from the FAO’s report, demonstrates how the government intends to continue stretching sectors like health care and social services, an agenda which will not offset the growing cost related to inflation and an aging population.
Ontarians overwhelmingly support better public services:
81% want funding to rise with inflation and population growth
80% favour maintaining or increasing funding for health care and education
76% back higher taxes on incomes over $300,000
You can’t protect Ontario by underfunding the services and sectors our communities depend on — but that’s exactly this government’s agenda.