Highlights of the 2022 Ontario Budget
Budget announcements from a grants & incentives perspective are valuable because they provide a forecast into what funding opportunities businesses and municipalities can plan for in the coming year. This time around, many of the initiatives highlighted in the Ontario Budget reflect recent and past announcements made by the Government as it heads into an election on June 2, 2022.
In terms of key indicators, a budget deficit of $19.9B is projected this fiscal year, falling to $12.3B in the following year. The Ontario budget is projected to reach a surplus by 2026-27. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is projected to increase by 3.7% this year and 3.1 % next year. Regarding inflation, the rate is expected to moderate to 4.7% for this year and decrease to 2.5% in 2023.
Altogether, Ontario businesses and municipalities can expect a period of growth as the province emerges from the pandemic and commits to making strategic investments in key sectors and communities. With this in mind, businesses and municipalities should begin planning investments early to increase their chances of alignment with grant and incentive programs that will be accepting applications throughout 2022/23 at fluctuating intervals.
Grant & Financial Incentive Announcements
Critical Minerals
- NEW: Creation of a Critical Minerals Funding Stream with $4M per year for the next three years. This program will operate with the existing Ontario Junior Exploration Program which covers up to $200,000 for mineral exploration and development.
- NEW: $2M this fiscal year and $3M in 2023-24 for a new Critical Minerals Innovation Fund focused on helping the mining industry, startups and research and development with new and innovative ways to extract and process critical minerals.
Manufacturing
- Creation of Advance Manufacturing Strategy to assist provincial manufacturers remain competitive.
- A $40M Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Competitiveness Stream announced in January was once again referenced in this latest edition of the budget (applications to the program remain closed) No additional funding announced.
Environmental Support and Sustainability Initiatives
- $2M in 2022-23 for Futurpreneur Canada that provides mentorship and collateral free loans to young entrepreneurs.
- $40M for Digital Main Street program (previously announced) for the next two fiscal years to help Ontario businesses increase their digital presence.
- $10M for a Digital Competence Centre (previously announced) to assist small business with training and support to adopt digital technologies.
Technologies and Intellectual Property
- Creation of Intellectual Property Ontario (previously announced) supported by an investment of $58M as a resource for IP expertise and advice.
- $107M over the next three years to help accelerate the development and commercialization of new critical technologies. No details announced.
Tax Credits
- Extension of the Regional Opportunities Tax Credit of $90,000 to support regional economic investments until the end of 2023 at cost of $40M.
- Amendments to the Ontario film and television tax credits to include professional film and television productions distributed on online platforms.
- Removal of the requirement that five hundred books are published in hard copy to be eligible for the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit.
Agri-Food Sector
- Development of an Ontario Food Security and Supply Chain Stability Strategy to ensure Ontario’s Agri-food supply chain is strengthened to address any sector vulnerabilities.
- NEW: A new $10M Food Security and Supply Chain Fund this fiscal year to strengthen Ontario’s food supply by addressing barriers to recruitment including training and skill gaps.
- $10M for expansion of the Enhanced Agri-Food Workplace Protection Program to support the health and safety of agri-food workers.
- $5M for emergency support initiatives to assist livestock producers if emergency processing disruptions occur.
- $2.6M for health and safety of incoming international agricultural workers.
Indigenous Economic Development
- $25M over three years for the Indigenous Economic Development Fund to support communities, entrepreneurs, skills enhancement, apprentices, and economic development.
Venture Capital
- $2M in 2022-23 for Futurpreneur Canada that provides mentorship and collateral free loans to young entrepreneurs.
- $40M for Digital Main Street program (previously announced) for the next two fiscal years to help Ontario businesses increase their digital presence.
- $10M for a Digital Competence Centre (previously announced) to assist small business with training and support to adopt digital technologies.
Skills Training
- Relaunch of Better Jobs Ontario program with a $5M investment to support laid off workers with limited work experience with training for skilled jobs.
- Additional $15.8M in 2022-23 to enhance the Skills Development Fund to hire, train or retrain workers.
- Additional $268.5M over three years to strengthen skill training and employment programs. No details announced.
Apprentices
- $73.8M over three years to support in-class training of apprentices.
- $10M this fiscal year to maintain the Infrastructure Talent Accelerator grant to help apprentices participate in in-demand jobs and participate in large infrastructure projects.
- $6.3M over three years for the Achievement Incentive program which encourages and supports apprentices.
- $6M over three years for the Group Sponsorship Grant to improve apprentice progression by supporting small and medium sized employers come together to train apprentices.
- $3.3M over three years for the Apprenticeship Capital Grant to provide supports for training delivery agents to meet the evolving needs of the workplace with innovative technology.
Women
- $6.9M over three years to enhance the Investing in Women’s Futures program to deliver employment training opportunities and supports for women to participate in the labour market.
Infrastructure
- Doubling of the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund to $2B over five years to help, 424 small, rural, and northern communities build roads, bridges and water and wastewater projects.
- Call on the federal government to fund $10B over ten years for the Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) to help communities with infrastructure renewal.
Municipalities
- NEW: $45M for a new Streamline Development Approval Fund to help Ontario’s largest municipalities streamline and modernize processes for managing and approving housing applications.
Life Sciences Sector
- NEW: $15M over three years for a new Life Sciences Innovation Fund to assist small and medium-sized enterprises develop and scale up the commercial potential of therapeutics and medical and digital technologies.