It will cost more to live in Ontario

Ontario students from low-income families won’t be paying tuition for college or university starting next year, part of an Ontario government plan to eliminate the “sticker shock” that deters so many from going on to post-secondary education.

During the federal election the Trudeau Liberals pledged to hike the Canada Student Grant for low-income students by 50 percent – from the current $2,000 per school year to $3,000.

Under the new Ontario Student Grant (OSG) system, to be implemented in the 2017/18 school year, lower-income students are going to be eligible for enough grants to cover their entire college or university tuition.

While the claim that “students from families with incomes of less than $50,000 will have no provincial student debt” is ambitious, there remains a lot of ambiguity in regards to how this new program will be integrated.

While he wasn’t sure how much the promise will cost, he said it will be offset by eliminating education tax credits. Vehicle owners will continue to be gouged for big fix bills when an engine light comes on, and the province will continue to collect eight per cent sales tax on all those repairs, which is the sole motivation for the program as far as I can tell.

Provincial revenue is projected to increase by $4 billion, from $126.6 billion in the 2015 fiscal year to $130.6 billion in 2016.

Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa delivered his $133 billion budget Thursday, which included a deficit forecast of $4.3 billion for this year and a balanced budget next year.

The change, projected for 2017, will reportedly allow post-secondary students to borrow up to $2,500 more each year. “Cap and Trade is supposed to help us fight climate change, not the deficit”.

Auto owners will no longer have to pay the $30 Drive Clean fee, but filling up on gas will cost 4.3 cents per litre more on gas and 4.7 cents more for diesel.

Ontario universities are committed to working closely with the province to put the new financial aid measures for students in place, and to help identify and overcome obstacles to access for lower-income students.

In health care, hospital funding is increasing by $345 million, $130 million will be spent on cancer-care services and an additional $75 million is being earmarked for community-based residential hospices and palliative care.

Sousa’s budget shows that the province’s cap-and-trade plan will produce $1.9-billion in revenue in its first full year.

The annual prescription will be increased for seniors with drug deductible, which will go from $170 to $100 dollars and the co-payment fee will also be increased by $1.

And NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says it will hurt seniors, and there was no warning for seniors budgeting on fixed incomes who will be facing huge new costs.