Ontario’s financial accountability watchdog released a report Wednesday stating the provincial government’s total revenue per capita and spending are the lowest in Canada, around 25 per cent lower than the national average, while also recording the highest debt and third-highest deficit.
The report comes just two weeks after the Ford government released their 2024 budget, which projected a nearly $10 billion deficit, double what was predicted during the province’s fall economic update, and even lower revenue than what was expected in the 2023 budget.
The Financial Accountability Office’s (FAO) report compared tax and non-tax revenues, spending, budget deficit and debt of the ten provinces for the 2022-2023 fiscal year (referred to as 2022 in the report).