Thursday, May 15, 2025
Earlier this afternoon, the government of Ontario tabled its 2025 budget, “A Plan to Protect Ontario.” The Minister of Finance positioned this as a “bold” budget for the “economy of tomorrow,” one that is designed to meet the challenges of the current political and economic moment, specifically the ongoing threat of American tariffs.
But despite this rhetoric, AMAPCEO, the union representing more than 17,000 professionals working in the public interest across Ontario, noted that the budget did not include broader investment in the public service.
AMAPCEO welcomes the budget’s targeted investments in select education and health care areas, but believes the government should go further, with more wide-ranging and substantive public sector investment to strengthen the Ontario’s economy.
Over the past decade, public services in Ontario have weathered austerity measures, hiring freezes, and costly outsourcing. And while the aim of the 2025 budget is to support long-term prosperity and growth, the budget does not reflect an increase in program spending needed to support that growth in the public sector.
“A truly bold budget, one designed to protect and support the entire province, would see not only tax cuts and private sector incentives, but measures designed to strengthen and grow the public services on which all Ontarians rely,” said AMAPCEO President Dave Bulmer.
In its pre-budget submission, AMAPCEO called for investment in excellent public services, an end to hiring freeze, and a commitment to greater transparency in private contracting.