In a still uncertain global economy, it’s our goal to ensure that all Ontarians have access to meaningful jobs. The province has created 696,000 net new jobs since October 2003 and 446,100 net new jobs since the recessionary low in June 2009. Our 2014 Jobs and Economy Progress Report shows that we’re on the right track, but we need to pick up speed, which is why the government has developed an economic plan that is creating jobs for today and tomorrow. The comprehensive plan and its six straightforward priorities build on Ontario’s strengths – its people and strategic partnerships.

Skills, training and second careers

The task isn’t to create any job, it’s to create jobs that pay a decent wage and provide security. To do this, we’re going to make Ontario the best in North America when it comes to training, retraining and skills development. Our plan continues to expand access to post-secondary education by adding more spaces and reducing costs, investing in apprenticeships, and building partnerships between institutions and industry to align training with today’s job opportunities. If someone has had the misfortune of losing a job, we want to help them get back on their feet and find meaningful work. That’s why we invest more than a billion dollars annually in Employment Ontario. Ontarians can take advantage of a broad number of programs, including Second Career.

Support for key industries

With manufacturing, resources, agriculture, information communication technologies, finance, service sectors, and too many more sectors to list, Ontario has one of North America’s most diverse economies. It’s a strength, and we’re going to build on it. We recently unveiled a $2.5 billion Jobs & Prosperity Fund, which is a 10-year commitment designed to help Ontario attract the kind of significant business investments that will create good new jobs and strengthen our economic future. We believe in working actively to help create the conditions for companies to succeed here in Ontario. That’s why we’re also supporting our diverse industries by making sure Ontario has a competitive tax rate, by helping companies with their energy costs, by building modern infrastructure and by training the best workers. Today’s global economy obliges us to do even more to make sure businesses are investing in Ontario. We’re forging strategic partnerships to seize opportunities for Ontario’s workers.

Infrastructure

We’ve committed to a $35 billion infrastructure investment plan over three years that is supporting at least 100,000 jobs each year, as well as attracting investment and keeping us competitive for the future. In addition, we’ve introduced Moving Ontario Forward, a fully-funded, $29 billion investment in roads and transit systems across Ontario that will create jobs and open up new opportunities for people and businesses.

Youth Jobs Strategy

Higher rates of youth unemployment threaten to create a generation of stalled dreams and stagnant wages. We’re investing $295 million over two years to provide at least 30,000 youth with the tools, experiences and entrepreneurial support they need to start meaningful careers:

  • Work experience: We’ve developed the Ontario Youth Employment Fund ($195 million) to provide youth facing barriers to employment with temporary placements to develop the skills that will help them succeed in their future career. It’s already placed more than 11, 500 youth into job opportunities in their field. We want to build on that momentum, so we are extending the fund until September, 2015. That means young people will be able to benefit from it for an additional summer. We’ve also developed the Ontario Youth Innovation Fund ($30 million) to boost employment for students and youth.
  • Skills for the 21st century: We’ve introduced to the Youth Skills Connection Fund ($25 million) to identify skills gaps and bridge them with targeted training programs that lead directly to employment.
  • Entrepreneurial support: The Ontario Youth Entrepreneurship Fund ($45 million) will provide high school outreach activities designed to spark interest in entrepreneurship, and will provide mentorship, financing and commercialization support to youth with good business ideas.
  • Streamlined access to resources: We’ve launched Ontario.ca/ReadySetWork, where youth can use a quick search tool to get a customized list of programs available to them.

Supporting our small businesses

From good ideas come great small businesses, and with great small businesses the sky is the limit. We’re making sure our home grown success stories can access the information they need to thrive, helping them collaborate with research institutions and hosting Global Exporter Forums to help them find new markets overseas. To help small businesses compete, we’ve cut over 80,000 regulatory requirements and on January 1, 2014, we increased the Employer Health Tax exemption to $450,000 of annual Ontario payroll, helping over 60,000 smaller employers. Our regional economic development funds provide support to small businesses and medium sized businesses ready to invest, grow and reach new markets.

Measured and moderate approach to balancing the budget

Through a measured and moderate approach, we’re on track to eliminate Ontario’s deficit by 2017-18 without endangering new jobs and our economic recovery. By carefully managing government spending, we’ve beat our deficit reduction targets for five years in a row—last year by over $400 million. Ontario continues to operate the most cost effective government in Canada on program spending per capita basis.