Ontario will table its 2021 budget next week, and the provincial Financial Accountability Office says there is still at least $4.5 billion the Ford government has not yet spent.
The 2020 budget projected a $38.5 billion deficit caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite significant assistance from the federal government, the province says it could run deficits worth a whopping $100 billion over the next three years.
Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said that the 2021-2022 budget will contain additional measures to help the province get over impacts brought on by the pandemic and continue administering vaccines, comparing the situation to a ship in stormy waters.
The Ford government has borrowed heavily to prevent public sector layoffs, issue loans and grants to businesses, and buttress hospitals and public health units as they respond to the pandemic.
"Once Ontario is vaccinated and COVID-19 is behind us, the day will come when we’ll no longer fear this virus," Bethlenfalvy has been quoted as saying.
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