Latest news with #BenEisen
Cision Canada
06-08-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Despite renewed promises of budget balance, Queens Park has a track record of missing fiscal targets resulting in mounting debt
TORONTO, Aug. 6, 2025 /CNW/ - The Ontario government now forecasts it will finally balance the province's operating budget by 2027, but given the current government's history of missing its own fiscal targets, it's questionable whether this one will be achieved, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. "The current Ontario government initially ran on a campaign to get the province's finances back on track, but unfortunately, it has developed a pattern of running large deficits and blowing past its own deficit and borrowing targets, just like the previous government," said Ben Eisen, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and co-author of Hold the Celebration on Ontario's Finances (Again!). The study shows that the government of Ontario has repeatedly failed to meet its deficit and borrowing targets and has presented three different planned dates for eliminating its deficit in the last three budgets. After having run deficits every year except one since 2007, the Ontario government now forecasts it will not balance its operating budget until 2027/28. However, the government has a history of missing its fiscal targets. For example: In 2023, the government forecast a balance budget by 2024 with an operating surplus of $2.2 billion. In 2024, instead of a balanced budget, the government ran a substantial deficit of $8.8 billion, and it revised its balanced budget target to 2026, with a surplus in that year of $2.5 billion. This year, instead of a balanced budget in 2026, the government now forecasts a deficit of $5.8 billion and has once again pushed out the balanced budget target to 2027, when it forecasts a $2.2 billion surplus. "The Ontario government's track record of missing its fiscal targets has resulted in a substantial run-up in provincial debt, which is now estimated to exceed half a trillion dollars in 2027/28," Eisen said. Ontario's finances have deteriorated significantly over the last few decades, and it will take prudent fiscal management—not missed targets and moving goal posts—to get them back on track." The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Halifax and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit
Cision Canada
03-07-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and P.E.I. have highest personal income tax rates in Canada at $50,000 of income
HALIFAX, NS, July 3, 2025 /CNW/ - At $50,000 of income, taxpayers in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island face the highest marginal provincial income tax rates in Canada, finds a new study published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent non-partisan Canadian think-tank. "High marginal provincial taxes aren't just a problem for high income earners in Atlantic Canada. Middle-income earners in the region also face higher tax rates on the next dollar that they earn than most other Canadians," said Ben Eisen, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and author of Tax Competitiveness Challenges in Atlantic Canada. Higher tax rates create harmful economic incentives with respect to work, savings, and investment, and make the region less attractive to business investment and entrepreneurship, which are all key to economic growth. Specifically, at $50,000 of income, Nova Scotia has the highest provincial income tax rate (14.95 per cent) on the next dollar earned followed by Newfoundland and Labrador (14.50 per cent) and Prince Edward Island (13.47 per cent) compared to the other provinces. New Brunswick (9.40 per cent) has the lowest rate in Atlantic Canada but still far higher than Ontario (5.05 per cent) and Alberta (8.00 per cent), which have the lowest rates in the country at that income level. The study analyzed statutory income tax rates at various levels of income ranging from $50,000 to $300,000 and found Atlantic Canada's rates are generally uncompetitive at every level. "If policymakers in Atlantic Canada want to attract more professionals, entrepreneurs and private sector investment to spur economic growth and help create jobs, they should reduce income taxes," Eisen said. Follow the Fraser Institute on Twitter and Facebook The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Halifax and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit
Malaysian Reserve
08-05-2025
- Business
- Malaysian Reserve
Fraser Institute News Release: From 2000 to 2023, Ontarians went from having 5% higher incomes to 3.2% lower than fellow Canadians
TORONTO, May 8, 2025 /CNW/ – Since 2000, Ontarians have gone from having higher incomes than Canadians in other provinces to slightly lower as a result of poor economic policies and the related protracted economic slump, according to a new study published by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. 'Since the turn of the century, Ontario's economy has performed worse than other provinces. The result is that Ontarians are now experiencing lower standards of living—on average—than their fellow Canadians,' said Ben Eisen, Fraser Institute senior fellow and co-author of Ontario's Economy Is Broken. The study finds that since 2000, Ontario's real per person GDP—a broad measure of living standards—has grown at an annual average rate of just 0.55 per cent, far below the 0.91 per cent growth experienced in the rest of Canada. This stagnation has had stark consequences for the province's standard of living. For example, in 2000, Ontarians enjoyed higher incomes than other Canadians with a GDP per person five per cent higher than the national average. By 2023, that advantage had reversed with Ontario's GDP per person 3.2 per cent lower than the rest of the country. The study also points to a sharp decline in business investment growth as a key reason for the province's prolonged stagnation. From 1981 to 2000, business investment per worker in Ontario grew 4.5 per cent annually, compared to 1.8 per cent for the rest of the country. Since 2000, that figure collapsed to just 0.71 per cent, nearly matching the rest of Canada's low rate. 'To reverse Ontario's economic decline relative to the rest of the country, policymakers should prioritize attracting business investment as a means of raising living standards,' Eisen said. Follow the Fraser Institute on Twitter | Like us on Facebook The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Halifax and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit
Cision Canada
08-05-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Fraser Institute News Release: From 2000 to 2023, Ontarians went from having 5% higher incomes to 3.2% lower than fellow Canadians
TORONTO, May 8, 2025 /CNW/ - Since 2000, Ontarians have gone from having higher incomes than Canadians in other provinces to slightly lower as a result of poor economic policies and the related protracted economic slump, according to a new study published by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. "Since the turn of the century, Ontario's economy has performed worse than other provinces. The result is that Ontarians are now experiencing lower standards of living—on average—than their fellow Canadians," said Ben Eisen, Fraser Institute senior fellow and co-author of Ontario's Economy Is Broken. The study finds that since 2000, Ontario's real per person GDP—a broad measure of living standards—has grown at an annual average rate of just 0.55 per cent, far below the 0.91 per cent growth experienced in the rest of Canada. This stagnation has had stark consequences for the province's standard of living. For example, in 2000, Ontarians enjoyed higher incomes than other Canadians with a GDP per person five per cent higher than the national average. By 2023, that advantage had reversed with Ontario's GDP per person 3.2 per cent lower than the rest of the country. The study also points to a sharp decline in business investment growth as a key reason for the province's prolonged stagnation. From 1981 to 2000, business investment per worker in Ontario grew 4.5 per cent annually, compared to 1.8 per cent for the rest of the country. Since 2000, that figure collapsed to just 0.71 per cent, nearly matching the rest of Canada's low rate. "To reverse Ontario's economic decline relative to the rest of the country, policymakers should prioritize attracting business investment as a means of raising living standards," Eisen said. The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Halifax and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit SOURCE The Fraser Institute
