Ontario Government Releases 2024–25 First Quarter Finances Report
TORONTO — The Ontario government has published its 2024–25 First Quarter Finances report, providing the first update on the province’s economic and fiscal outlook since the release of the 2024 Ontario Budget: Building a Better Ontario.
This report, covering Ontario’s financial status as of June 30, 2024, indicates that the province’s fiscal outlook is stable despite ongoing global economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
“From day one, our government has been a prudent, responsible manager of Ontario’s finances,” said Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance. “We’ve reversed a trend of credit downgrades that our province faced under the previous government, and we’re continuing to focus on keeping costs down for families, supporting Ontario workers, and making our province a center of investment so we can create more good-paying jobs, support high-quality services, and put more money back into Ontario businesses and taxpayers’ pockets.”
Our government was elected on a plan to rebuild Ontario’s economy, and today’s release of Q1 Finances proves our plan is working.
We’re building roads, transit, housing and health care, while keeping costs down for workers, families and businesses.
🔗https://t.co/hGsIU6NdDg pic.twitter.com/OFiiUa14pf
— Peter Bethlenfalvy (@PBethlenfalvy) August 13, 2024
In the first calendar quarter of 2024, Ontario’s real gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.7 percent, following a period of stagnation in the fourth quarter of 2023, driven by higher exports and household spending.
Other key indicators presented in the report align with projections from the 2024 Ontario Budget. The 2024–25 First Quarter Finances project a deficit of $9.8 billion, consistent with the forecast in the 2024 Ontario Budget. Government revenues are also projected to be $205.7 billion, as previously anticipated.
The outlook for program expenses at $200.6 billion, interest on debt expenses, and the cost of borrowing in 2024–25 also remain unchanged from the forecasts in the 2024 Ontario Budget.
The government plans to provide a comprehensive multi-year fiscal outlook as part of the 2024 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review later this year.
