Ontario's Progressive Conservative government says it is trying to make life more affordable with a tax cut for low-income workers.
Minister of Finance Vic Fedeli has released the 2018 Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review, outlining the government's plan to help people make ends meet.
The province is proposing a tax cut that would ensure a single person who works full time at minimum wage (earning nearly $30,000) will not have to pay Ontario Personal Income Tax at all. The Low-income Individuals and Families Tax (LIFT) Credit would benefit 1.1 million people across the province. It would provide low-income and minimum wage workers up to $850 in Ontario Personal Income Tax relief and couples up to $1,700.
"Ontario's plan is modest, pragmatic and reasonable — recognizing that the province has a spending problem, not a revenue problem," said Fedeli in a news release. "The plan does not raise taxes, [it] makes life more affordable for people, and safeguards vital public services and programs they rely on every day."
However, the NDP said the Fall Economic Statement only manages to give a bigger tax break to the highest earners, by cancelling two high-income surtaxes.
The Opposition said the PC government is also cutting nearly $1 billion from children, youth and social services, compared to the 2018 budget. However, the details of how that cut will affect Ontarians are being withheld until November 22.
“Things were already getting tougher and tougher for so many people just trying to make ends meet and get ahead of the bills,” said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath. “Instead of fixing that, it looks like Doug Ford is hell-bent on making people pay more for the things they need in life.”
The Ontario PCs are now projecting a 2018-2019 deficit of $14.5 billion — $0.5 billion less than the $15 billion deficit inherited from the previous government.
"The magnitude of our fiscal challenge is real. It will require difficult decisions as we work to get Ontario's finances back on track," said Minister Fedeli. "This government believes balancing the budget and reducing Ontario's debt burden is not only a fiscal imperative, it is a moral one. The previous government spent well beyond its means, creating a structural deficit that is unsustainable. Doing nothing is not an option — we need to spend smarter and reinvent government."