Chamber
ontario
Stage
Introduced
Ontario's 2025 budget bill makes wide-ranging changes to taxes, roads, alcohol rules, and financial regulations across 19 schedules.
Key Changes
- Creates a new refundable Ontario fertility treatment tax credit worth 25% of eligible expenses up to $20,000 per year (maximum $5,000 back), applying to expenses paid after December 31, 2024
- Eliminates Ontario's provincial tax on propane starting July 1, 2025
- Cuts the spirits tax rate at distillery retail stores from 61.5% to 30.75% and reduces beer taxes for microbreweries, both effective August 1, 2025
- Permanently bans municipalities (including Toronto) from designating, operating, or maintaining toll highways, regardless of purpose
- Authorizes the province to borrow up to $27 billion under the Ontario Loan Act, 2025
- Requires the Minister to reconfigure (not necessarily remove) bicycle lanes on Bloor, Yonge, University, and Avenue Road in Toronto to restore motor vehicle lanes; bans municipalities from paying camera enforcement vendors based on the number of tickets issued
Gotchas
- The bicycle lane changes require 'reconfiguration' rather than full removal on the specified Toronto streets, but regulations can later require full removal — the exact outcome depends on future regulatory decisions.
- The fertility treatment tax credit cannot be claimed by both spouses in the same year; if both claim it, the government will designate only one claimant. The credit is also subject to a mandatory government review after five years.
- Manufacturers who claimed the Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit may be required to repay it if they sell, change the use of, or remove the eligible property from Ontario within five years of claiming the credit.
- The $27 billion borrowing authority expires for new orders-in-council after December 31, 2027, and actual borrowing under those orders must be completed by December 31, 2028, with limited exceptions for pre-existing agreements.
- CIRO (the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization) investigators and staff are shielded from personal liability for good-faith actions, though CIRO itself remains liable — and testimony gathered during CIRO investigations cannot be shared with police without the witness's written consent.
Who's Affected
- Ontario residents seeking fertility treatments, who can now claim a new provincial tax credit
- Propane users and businesses (e.g., farms, transport companies) who will no longer pay provincial propane tax
- Craft breweries and microbreweries benefiting from reduced beer taxes
- Distilleries and spirits consumers benefiting from the halved retail store tax rate
- Toronto cyclists and drivers affected by bicycle lane reconfigurations on major streets
- Municipalities losing the ability to create toll roads or structure camera enforcement contracts based on ticket revenue
- Investors and financial market participants subject to stronger CIRO enforcement and higher penalties for securities and commodity futures violations
- Tobacco smugglers and illegal tobacco dealers facing significantly higher fines
Vibes
0 responses
Gotchas
- The bicycle lane changes require 'reconfiguration' rather than full removal on the specified Toronto streets, but regulations can later require full removal — the exact outcome depends on future regulatory decisions.
- The fertility treatment tax credit cannot be claimed by both spouses in the same year; if both claim it, the government will designate only one claimant. The credit is also subject to a mandatory government review after five years.
- Manufacturers who claimed the Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit may be required to repay it if they sell, change the use of, or remove the eligible property from Ontario within five years of claiming the credit.
- The $27 billion borrowing authority expires for new orders-in-council after December 31, 2027, and actual borrowing under those orders must be completed by December 31, 2028, with limited exceptions for pre-existing agreements.
- CIRO (the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization) investigators and staff are shielded from personal liability for good-faith actions, though CIRO itself remains liable — and testimony gathered during CIRO investigations cannot be shared with police without the witness's written consent.
Summary
Bill 24, the Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2025, is Ontario's annual budget implementation bill. It makes changes to 19 different provincial laws covering topics such as taxes, road rules, alcohol pricing, financial markets, and government borrowing. The bill was introduced by the Minister of Finance as part of the province's 2025 budget plan. Some of the most notable changes include: eliminating the provincial tax on propane starting July 1, 2025; creating a new 25% refundable tax credit for fertility treatment expenses (up to $5,000 back on $20,000 in expenses); cutting the spirits tax at distillery retail stores in half (from 61.5% to 30.75%); reducing beer taxes for microbreweries; and permanently banning municipalities and the City of Toronto from creating toll roads. The province is also authorized to borrow up to $27 billion to cover its financial obligations. Other changes include requiring the reconfiguration (not full removal) of certain bicycle lanes on major Toronto streets like Bloor, Yonge, University, and Avenue Road to restore motor vehicle lanes; strengthening enforcement powers for financial market regulators; increasing fines for tobacco tax offences; and giving the province more oversight over automated speed cameras and red light cameras operated by municipalities.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
0 responses
Recorded Votes
| Date | Description | Yeas | Nays | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 5, 2025 | Bill 24, An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes. | 0 | 0 | Carried |
| Jun 3, 2025 | Third Reading of Bill 24, An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes. | 70 | 42 | Carried |
| Jun 2, 2025 | Second Reading of Bill 24, An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes. | 68 | 43 | Carried |