CCI Statement on the 2025 Ontario Budget

Today, Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy delivered the 2025 provincial budget. The budget was primarily focused on responding the the United States trade war, and the economic fallout affecting on Ontario.

In response to today's budget, CCI Director of Ontario Affairs Skaidra Puodziunas delivered the following statement:

"For too long, Ontario has painted itself into a corner by gearing the economy toward low value-add strategies that ignored sovereign control of the economy. The U.S. Government’s trade war with Canada is exploiting this vulnerability.

"Innovative, high-growth Ontario companies are ready to do their part of transforming Ontario’s economy. These firms are building high value-add products and services, creating high-paying jobs, new investments and generating long-term wealth owned and controlled here at home. But to unlock their full potential, we need more than reactionary measures: we need a clear, forward-looking economic strategy that focuses on increasing value-added products and services by domestic industry that will improve Ontario’s current poor terms of trade.

"Earlier this year, 75 CEOs signed CCI’s open letter to Premier Ford calling for just that: a bold plan to support homegrown companies through smart procurement, targeted investment, and strong domestic capacity-building. In this budget, we were encouraged to see some increased funding for Venture Ontario, but overall, the budget fell short of the transformational leadership this moment demands.

"With a renewed mandate from voters and a clear call from Ontario’s business leaders, this government has the opportunity and the responsibility to chart a new course. Ontario’s innovators stand ready to work with the province to build an economy that is more prosperous, secure, more self-reliant, and built to last."

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Media Contact:

James McLeod
jmcleod@canadianinnovators.org

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