Ontario plans to spend billions to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, help small businesses and support families.
The province has unveiled a $186.1-billion budget that also shows a $33.1 billion deficit, which the government says will take until 2029 to eliminate.
The spending plan contains $6.7 billion for pandemic-related measures, including $1 billion for the vaccine effort, and $2.3 billion for testing and contact tracing this year.
The government says it will offer a second round of grants to small businesses to assist with pandemic expenses and create a new job training tax credit.
It will also offer a third round of payments to families with children through the Ontario COVID-19 Child Benefit, doubling it to $400 per child and $500 for each child with special needs.
The budget also contains an additional $1.8 billion for hospitals and $650 million more for long-term care this year to address demands placed on both sectors by the pandemic.
