Provincial Budget: Gas Price Increase and Lower Tuition Costs

In a hypothetical situation, the Ontario government states that a college student living at home with a family income of $40,000 would receive grants of $5,383, which is more than enough to cover the average tuition of $2,768.

The $133-billion document, tabled Thursday, will, however, also make life more expensive for some Ontarians.

The government’s new grant scheme will mean about half of students whose parents earn $83,000 or less will receive more in non-payable grants than they have to pay in tuition fees.

“You can not increase health care beyond what we are already doing and lower electricity prices, either through a subsidy or going back to coal, and at the same time speed up the elimination (of the deficit)”, she said.

A new $2.4 million one-year pilot project will also allow those fleeing domestic violence to access affordable housing benefits without having to wait for a unit to become available.

In its latest budget, Ontario’s Liberal government says it is on track to eliminate a $5.7-billion deficit in the next fiscal year largely thanks to managing program spending and fighting the underground economy.

“We are chipping away at the deficit”, said Sousa.

Also, in 2017, the current 3 per cent cap on tuition expires, though the grant is indexed to tuition increases. Bear in mind, this is after the provincial student aid transformation has rolled out completely in the 2018-19 year and taking into account the federal Liberal promise to boost Canada Student Grant maximums. The average credit of $70 went mostly to higher-income families “who are less likely to need it”, the budget papers said.

“Before, we were really penalizing low-income and marginalized students, forcing them to take on loans and to pay interest and effectively paying more for their education than students who could afford it up front”, said Ontario spokesman Rajean Hoilett. Coffers will also get a lift from a carbon pricing plan, which the government says will be devoted exclusively to green projects. The question is how they’ll use it. Different programs of study are priced differently; for example, for a first-year student, the Fall-Winter 2015-2016 cost per unit in a humanities program at McMaster University is $218.20.

Ontario’s Liberal government will outline a plan to eliminate its deficit and stem the growth of its massive debt in today’s provincial budget, the ninth in a row to be awash in red ink.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said this budget will hurt seniors.

As of March 31, Ontario’s debt will be $296.1 billion, rising to $308.3 billion next year.