Chamber: Ontario’s 2022 Budget must Focus on Business Predictability and Growth

(Toronto – April 11, 2022) – Ontario’s economic outlook remains uncertain for businesses and households as labour shortages, supply chain disruptions, and inflation continue to hit home. Ontario’s business community needs a clear and predictable path forward to support economic rebound and growth. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s (OCC) 2022 Ontario budget submission provides key recommendations to the Government of Ontario to ensure a strong and sustainable recovery.

“The pandemic has made it clear that we cannot have a strong business community without a resilient health care system. Budget 2022 needs to focus on immediate measures that support business predictability and competitiveness while building health care capacity to withstand current and future challenges,” said Rocco Rossi, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

OCC’s 2022 provincial budget submission provides recommendations to the Government of Ontario under the following categories: Economic Recovery; Resilient Communities; and Modernizing Regulation and Fiscal Policy. Some key highlights include proposals to:

• Support entrepreneurship and small business growth with targeted business supports and access to public sector procurement.
• Strengthen Ontario’s workforce by boosting immigration and training programs.
• Make housing more affordable through increased supply and regulatory reforms.
• Advance regional transportation and broadband infrastructure projects.
• Bolster our health care system and address major backlogs in diagnostics and cancer screenings.
• Seize Ontario’s opportunity to lead in the global green economy.
• Remove barriers to interprovincial trade and labour mobility.

“Successfully achieving a fulsome recovery also means addressing Ontario’s labour market issues. According to OCC’s Ontario Economic Report, a staggering 62 percent of sectors are facing labour shortages in Ontario and expect to continue facing them over the next year. Together with supply chain constraints, these shortages are having real-life consequences on productivity, cost of living, service delivery, and product availability,” added Rossi.

The recommendations outlined in OCC’s budget submission were developed together with businesses, associations, post-secondary institutions, as well as chambers of commerce, and boards of trade from across the province.

READ THE OCC’S BUDGET SUBMISSION HERE.

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About the Ontario Chamber of Commerce
For more than a century, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) has been the independent, non-partisan, indispensable partner of Ontario business. The OCC’s mission is to support economic growth in Ontario by defending business priorities at Queen’s Park on behalf of its network’s diverse 60,000 members.

For more information or to arrange an interview:
Alissa Reid
Coordinator, Public Affairs
alissareid@occ.ca | Mobile: (705) 205-1434