Introduction

The Ontario Public Service Employes Union (OPSEU/SEFPO) represents 180,000 public sector workers in Ontario. OPSEU/SEFPO members work in the Ontario Public Service; in Ontario’s colleges, universities, and public schools; in Ontario’s hospitals, long-term care facilities, ambulance services and public health units; in developmental services, child treatment centres, mental health agencies; in laboratories and blood services; in Ontario’s LCBO stores, warehouses and offices; and so many more public services that are pillars of this province.

Our membership, and the people they provide service for, are directly affected by the decisions the provincial government makes in its budget.

At their core, budgets are made up of choices. To those involved in developing the 2025 Ontario budget, on behalf of OPSEU/SEFPO’s 180,000 members, we urge you to strongly consider the real-life impacts of the financial decisions being made.

This government’s past budget choices have been nothing short of financial mismanagement, the impacts of which are being felt in every community. The public services that Ontarians rely on are chronically underfunded and understaffed. Compared to other provinces, Ontario continues to come dead last in program spending per capita, an embarrassing fact that only hurts Ontarians and their communities.

This government has touted its infrastructure investments – fostering relationships with developers and corporations for more privately owned and operated buildings – all the while making living and working conditions for the people of Ontario worse.

Every Ontarian understands that a hospital bed without health care workers providing care is nothing but furniture. The same can be said for all our public services – in our colleges, in developmental services and children’s aid, in correctional services, and in so many more areas, it is dedicated workers who make them function.

It’s NOT “happening here”

The Conservative government recently spent $8 million on ads[1] with the tagline, “It’s Happening Here,” depicting a thriving Ontario ‘where more people are going to work than ever before’ and ending with a visual of a family arriving at a giant smart-home few Ontarians could ever dream of affording.

The reality of what’s happening in Ontario is far less rosy: a child dies every three days[2] under Ontario’s underfunded care system; food banks cannot keep up with demand as usage has reached an eight-year high[3]; and the unemployment rate has gone up during this government’s time in office. More than 595,600 people in Ontario were unemployed in October 2024 – 175,000 more than when Ford’s government was first elected in March 2018.

Last year was also a record-breaking year for hospital emergency room closures[4] in Ontario, limiting critical access to timely medical care at a time that 2.5 million people in Ontario are without a family doctor.[5]

With the 2025 Budget, the government has an opportunity to change course and choose to address these crises and so many others by investing in the public services Ontarians rely on and the workers who deliver those services.

Government (under)spending: A failure to invest in the services we rely on

Ontarians are feeling as though their services are crumbling or disappearing, and there’s a reason: Ontario isn’t spending enough on our public services. In fact, we have the lowest per capita program spending in the country. A 2024 report from the Financial Accountability Office estimated that, in 2022-23, Ontario spent $3,338 less per capita on programs than the average of the other provinces. Put another way, this means that, with more than 16 million Ontarians, Ontario would have to spend more than $50 billion more on programs just to be average.

What we’re seeing in the Ontario Public Service and across the broader public service is that after decades of neglect, many services cannot continue to run on the dedication and care of workers alone. Without adequate funding, those services – and the people who rely upon them – suffer.

The public sector staffing crisis: A direct result of government underfunding

There is a staff recruitment and retention crisis in every sector of public services in Ontario. This is a direct result of government underfunding those services. When a ministry or agency providing a public service is underfunded, it means they can’t hire enough staff to meet the demand for those services – and the demand for health care, education and other social services doesn’t decrease just because the government decreases funding for those services.

The drastic understaffing of our public services has resulted in OPSEU/SEFPO members experiencing unmanageable workloads and dangerous working conditions, such as working alone or with too few people to handle potentially volatile situations. This leads to high levels of burnout, workplace injuries, or even deaths – continuing the vicious cycle of removing even more staff from the workplace.

Government underfunding also leads to stagnant wages that don’t keep up with the cost of living, which, along with the downward spiral of understaffing and poor working conditions, fuels the recruitment and retention crisis as well.

Privatization: Putting public funds into private pockets

In contrast to the lack of funds available for vital services in our communities, the current Ontario government appears to have seemingly endless funds for shiny new projects that help enrich corporate friends.

While our health care system is in crisis, Ontario hospitals and Long Term Care homes spent more than $1 billion using private staffing agencies[6] rather than being funded appropriately to retain staff with fair wages and working conditions.

The Ontario Place redevelopment – which will result in less public recreation space and a new giant spa and parking lot – will cost the public upwards of $2.24 billion.

The Premier’s latest infrastructure idea – a tunnel under Highway 401 – would cost at least $55 billion[7] and cause years of traffic chaos with construction across the country’s largest city.

And on the eve of an expected but unnecessary early election this year, the government will spend roughly $3 billion sending out $200 cheques to every Ontarian as part of a one-time-only “tax rebate” program.

Throwing away revenues: Bleeding public services of funding

In addition to reckless spending that puts public funds into private pockets, the Ford government has systematically reduced public revenues, which exacerbates the funding shortfall for our public services.

Since the current government was elected in 2018, Ontario’s Ministry of Finance made dozens of policy changes that cut taxes, fees or paid out tax credits. Cumulatively, these changes are currently draining upwards of $7 billion annually from the provincial treasury.[8]

The LCBO, Ontario’s Crown Jewel, generates roughly $2.5 billion in public revenues that go directly towards public services and infrastructure. Yet this government has made it a priority to put those revenues at risk. The premier’s pet project of expanding alcohol sales to gas stations, convenience chains and more grocery stores has already come at a significant cost to the public and threatens future revenues. At the same time, it encourages more consumption of alcohol, a known carcinogen linked to adverse health and social outcomes.

Last year, the government spent $225 million just to rip up the Master Framework Agreement with the Beer Store, a clear waste of money that could have been saved by waiting until the end of 2025. The Financial Accountability Office[9] is now looking to review this expansion and whether it was in the best interest of Ontarians.

Falling affordability, rising inequality

All of the political and financial choices outlined above (and their impacts) are ultimately making Ontario a less affordable and less equitable place to live.

Healthy public services are essential to decrease social and economic inequality – both the gap between the poorest and richest, and the impact of discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation and physical abilities.

Properly funded public services are accessible to all and thus create equal opportunities for all members of communities. Having to pay for private services creates barriers to access and disadvantages those with lower incomes and undermines equal opportunity.

Public services also make up much of the care economy, the workforce of which is disproportionately made up of racialized and women workers. Chronic underfunding has led to stagnant wages that have not kept up with the rising cost of living.

Meanwhile, the wealth gap between the top 20 per cent and the bottom 40 per cent is now the highest it has been since Statistics Canada[10] began tracking it.

Conclusion

Budgets are made up of choices. With the 2025 budget, this government has an opportunity to change course and refocus its priorities to improve the lives of everyone living in this province. This year, the Minister of Finance can choose to fund public services properly and provide much-needed support to the frontline workers who keep those services going.

Footnotes

[1] Crawley, Mike. “Ontario ad campaign ‘It’s Happening Here’ has cost taxpayers $8M”. CBC News. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-government-advertising-campaign-its-happening-here-1.7152383

[2] Callan, Issac. “‘The system has fallen apart’: A child dies every 3 days under Ontario’s care network”. Global News. globalnews.ca/news/10735101/ontario-child-care-system-deaths/

[3] D’Andrea, Aaron. “Ontario food banks ‘cannot keep up’ as usage reaches 8-year high.” Global News. globalnews.ca/news/10740211/ontario-food-bank-report/

[4] Ireton, Julie and Valerie Ouellet. “2024 worst year for Ontario ER closures, CBC analysis finds.” CBC News. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/data-analysis-er-closures-three-years-2024-worst-year-for-scheduled-closures-1.7396789

[5] Ireland, Nicole. “Number of Ontarians without family doctor reaches 2.5 million, college says”. CBC News. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-family-doctor-shortage-record-high-1.7261558

[6] Jones, Allison. “Agency staff cost Ontario hospitals, LTC homes nearly $1B in 2023.” CBC News. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/hospital-ltc-agency-staff-1.7154329

[7] Casaletto, Lucas and Richard Southern. “‘$55 billion’: Expert pegs ballpark cost of Ford’s Hwy. 401 tunnel proposal.” CityNews. toronto.citynews.ca/2024/09/27/ontario-highway-401-tunnel-costs-doug-ford/

[8] Robinson, Randy. “Bleeding the patient: tracking five years of Ontario revenue reductions.” Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. www.policyalternatives.ca/news-research/bleeding-the-patient-tracking-five-years-of-ontario-revenue-reductions/

[9] CBC News. “FAO to look at cost of Ontario expanding alcohol sales early.” www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/fao-researching-cost-alcohol-sales-expansion-ontario-1.7324909

[10] Statistics Canada. “Distributions of household economic accounts for income, consumption, saving and wealth of Canadian households, second quarter 2024.” www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/241010/dq241010a-eng.htm