Ontario’s Action Plan: Protecting People’s Health and Our Economy
BRANTFORD ON, March 25, 2021 – Yesterday, the province’s Minister of Finance and President of the Treasury Board Peter Bethlenfalvy released Ontario’s Action Plan: Protecting People’s Health and Our Economy. The 2021 Ontario Budget is the next phase of Ontario’s response to COVID-19 and is the second Budget the government has delivered during the pandemic.
The 2021 Budget focuses on two primary components of the province’s recovery.
Protecting People’s Health is the first pillar of the 2021 Budget. It includes measures for defeating COVID-19, fixing long-term care and caring for people.
Investments to support Ontario’s health projects include:
Protecting Our Economy is the second pillar of the 2021 Budget. It outlines Ontario’s plan to support families, workers and employers.
Investments to protect Ontario’s economy include:
A notable investment of interest to career colleges under this pillar is the Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit for 2021.
To help workers with their training expenses, the government is proposing a new temporary Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit for 2021. It would provide up to $2,000 per recipient for 50 per cent of eligible expenses, for a total of an estimated $260 million in support to about 230,000 people in 2021.
Expenses eligible for the new credit are the same as those that can be claimed for the Canada training credit, a federal jobs training benefit program announced in the 2019 federal budget and effective in 2020. These expenses could include fees for postsecondary courses that provide credits towards a degree, diploma or certificate; fees for skills courses related to an occupation; and fees for occupational, trade or professional exams.
To be eligible for the Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit, applicants would have to be residents in Ontario on Dec. 31, 2021, and have a Canada training credit limit for 2021 greater than zero. Applicants can find their Canada training credit limit for 2021 on their notice of assessment for 2020 from the Canada Revenue Agency.
The Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit would provide about $260 million in support to 230,000 Ontarians this year, the government said.
The 2021 Budget builds on the government’s existing investments in response to the pandemic, bringing total investments to $16.3 billion to protect people’s health and $23.3 billion to protect our economy. Ontario’s COVID-19 action plan support now totals $51 billion.
