Ontario budget acknowledges manufacturing as a driving force of the innovation economy

The plan will see students with family incomes below $50,000 pay no tuition and 50 per cent of students from families with $83,000 or less will receive grants in excess of average tuition.

Upper middle class families lose the tax credits that help defray the high cost of sending kids to school and there is no more fully refundable children’s activity tax credit as of next year.

The government also announced that Ontario’s tax credits now available to postsecondary students will be converted into grants for students as part of the new student assistance system.

The pillars of his $134-billion spending plan are a cap-and-trade program to reduce carbon emmissions estimated to collect up to $1.9 billion annually, and a streamlined student grant.

Some people liked the handful of new freebies in the budget – such as “free” shingles vaccine for seniors.

The Conference Board statement – entitled Balanced Budget: Coming Down To The Wire – says that the government is relying on possibly “too optimistic” growth in the Ontario economy to fill its treasury.

Wine prices will also rise – the minimum price for a bottle will increase to $7.95 over the next three years.

Thursday’s budget also outlined higher taxes for tobacco and wine, or so-called “sin taxes”.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) said the budget failed to address the issues in the corrections system that nearly led to a strike early this year: “For a long time now we’ve been telling the province that corrections needs an emergency injection of $100 million so we can start getting on top of the crisis in our institutions and in our probation and parole offices”, Warren (Smokey) Thomas said.

“We’re a big believer in education, so we think that’s good move, making it cheaper for lower-income families to send their kids to school”, Boyce said.

Other jurisdictions like Quebec and California phased in changes, and California’s utilities were given free emissions allowances initially that helped to cushion the impact, she said.

In a volatile job market, students graduating with debt may find work out of their field of study to stay on an even financial keel.

The fall economic statement showed a 2015-16 deficit projection that was $1 billion lower than was forecast in last year’s budget – much of the revenue boost was due to IPO revenue on the books, but Sousa denied it was being used to lower the deficit.

Ontario estimates the program to fight climate change will translate into an extra $5 a month in home heating costs, and an extra $8 a month in gasoline costs, which will rise 4.3 cents a litre.

The provincial debt is projected to be $308 billion, up from $296 billion past year. The government says fighting the underground economy and managing program spending are key to helping get the province back in the black in 2017-18.