On Wednesday, March 25, Ontario’s Finance Minister, and President of the Treasury Board the Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy, delivered the province’s 20201 Budget, entitled ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Ontario’s Action Plan: Protecting People’s Health and Our Economy. This budget is strongly focused on defeating the COVID-19 pandemic and protecting jobs, while laying out the roadmap for a post pandemic economic recovery. Please find OHBA’s news release on today’s budget here.

OHBA has been advocating for key policy proposals in the budget to help our sector deliver new homes and newly renovated homes to awaiting families. OHBA believes the residential construction industry is well positioned to lead Ontario’s economy into a sustainable recovery through strong investment in local communities and to act as a stabilizing force in terms of job creation. In preparation for the 2021 budget, OHBA focused our efforts on meeting with key Cabinet Minsters and Parliamentary Assistants to share our core policy proposals further outlined in our formal 2021 Budget Submission. This submission outlines critical measures to help unlock needed investment in new housing, improve affordability and reduce red tape.

Relevant parts of today’s budget are noted below,

Headline Economic/Budget Stats:

• Full budget expenditures total $173 billion.
• For 2020–21, the government is projecting a deficit of $33.1 billion.
• Over the medium term, the government is forecasting deficits of $27.7 billion in 2022–23 and $20.2 billion in 2023–24,
• Ontario’s real GDP declined 5.7% in 2020. GDP growth is projected at 4% for 2021, 4.3% in 2022, 2.5% in 2023, & 2.0% in 2024.
• The construction sector saw a 5.5% reduction in construction employment between February 2020 and February 2021.
• The Ministry of Finance noted 81,300 new home starts in 2020 with the following forecasted projections,
• • 80,200 starts in 2021
  • 79,300 starts in 2022
  • 80,200 starts in 2023
  • 81,200 starts in 2024

Housing

• The strong housing momentum is expected to continue with home resales projected to rise 5.5% in 2021 and the average home resale price to increase 7.5 per cent. Housing activity is expected to moderate between 2022 and 2024 to levels consistent with fundamental drivers of housing demand, such as population growth.

Skilled Trades, Apprenticeships & Workforce Development

• The province will invest $288.2 million in 2021–22 in its Skilled Trades Strategy with the following measures.
• • $39.6 million over three years, beginning in 2021–22, to expand the Specialist High Skills Major program to further expose students in Grades 11 & 12 to the skilled trades.
  • Development of a Portal for Skilled Trades & Apprenticeships is ongoing. This portal will offer a 24/7, secure, simple an straightforward way to connect employers with the skilled workers they need.
  • $3 million for a hand-on learning assistance for up 1,000 Ontario students, including co-ops focused on the skilled trades.
  • Expand the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program to include Grade 10 summer training opportunities alongside Grade 11 and 12.
• The government is helping workers retrain in a second career, or a career change, as well as help employers locate and identify potential workers through a virtual skills passport. By providing additional one‐time funding of $2 million in 2021–22 for the development of a virtual skills passport that tracks learners’ credentials to set the foundation for lifelong learning, and allows them to share credentials digitally with prospective employers.

Getting Ontario’s Economy Back on Track – Key Red Tape Initiatives

• The provincial government will continue the process of digitizing and automating Ontario government services, particularly those used by businesses.

Health & Safety

• The province is providing free occupational health and safety training for health and safety representatives in up to 60,000 small businesses by investing $3.5 million annually over a three‐year period, focused on helping to lower injury rates and improve health and safety awareness and practices in small businesses.

Tax Policy Changes

• The budget includes a new Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit, which would provide up to $2,000 per recipient to cover half of eligible expenses, which include occupational, trade or technical qualifications or training programs (the credit is effectively being harmonized with a similar federal measure).
•  Fees for an occupational, trade, or professional examination required to obtain a professional status, or to be licensed or certified as a tradesperson, and that are paid to a university, college or other educational institution, a professional association, provincial ministry, or other similar institution.
• Ontario is providing a second round of Ontario Small Business Support Grant payments to eligible recipients. Approximately 120,000 small businesses will automatically benefit from an additional $1.7 billion in relief through this second round of support in the form of grants of a minimum of $10,000 and up to $20,000 — bringing the estimated total support provided through this grant to $3.4 billion.
• The province has expanded the Regional Opportunities Investment Tax Credit to 20% for  businesses that build, renovate or purchase eligible commercial or industrial buildings in a qualifying region of the province.

Conclusion

While this budget is primarily focused on preserving people’s health and jobs, OHBA will continue to advocate for policy measures that will enable our sector to reignite Ontario’s economy over the next 12 months as we move towards economic recover.