Ontario finance minister says federal budget ‘lacks some ambition’

Ontario’s finance minister says the new federal budget put forward by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government “lacks some ambition” on infrastructure, nation-building and tariff relief.

Speaking to reporters at Queen’s Park Wednesday, Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said he had spoken with his federal counterpart François-Philippe Champagne that morning to go over the newly-tabled budget in more detail.

“My first take is that it’s less transformational, it’s more tinkering,” he said.

The federal budget, tabled Tuesday, details billions in proposed cuts and investments meant to spur growth and productivity amidst trade uncertainty and a slowing economy. It calls for about $141 billion in new spending — offset by $51.2 billion in cuts, mostly to the public service — and shows a deficit of roughly $78 billion for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

The budget includes $51 billion in infrastructure spending over the next decade, which Bethlenfalvy called disappointing. Ontario is planning to spend about $200 billion on infrastructure over the next 10 years, he said, and the province was hoping for $100 billion in federal infrastructure funding.

“It falls really short there,” he said. “Also, on the nation-building side, we did not see a commitment to some of our priorities.”

Those include large-scale nuclear energy, mining the Ring of Fire, and the province’s controversial Highway 401-tunnel project, he said.

“These things are really important to creating jobs, getting shovels in the ground, moving our province forward,” he said.

Under the new budget, major projects like high-speed rail, new ports, carbon capture and storage face likely approval in the coming months.

The budget also fell short in support for workers and businesses impacted by U.S. tariffs, Bethlenfalvy said.

“I’ve had workers asking me what’s in the budget for Oshawa, what’s in it for Windsor?" he said. “There isn’t much there specifically.”

In his budget speech Tuesday, Minister Champagne said the level of economic uncertainty the country is facing is generational, and the government’s budget would help prop up the economy as Canada grapples with major economic disruptions. 

Earlier this week, Bethlenfalvy had said he would like to see federal tax cuts in the budget, saying that could help the economy in light of U.S. tariffs. The budget included the removal of two high-end taxes on underused housing and luxury aircraft and boats, but the minister did not mention tax cuts in his comments Wednesday.

The finance minister's focus on infrastructure spending and protecting jobs from the impacts of U.S. tariffs may provide a glimpse of the themes of the fall economic statement, which often serves as a mini budget, that Bethlenfalvy is set to table Thursday.