Winners and losers from the 2018 Ontario budget
Parents and seniors win, smokers and high-income earners lose as Liberals present budget ahead of the June election.

TheStar.com
March 28, 2018

Charles Sousa presented the Liberal government’s budget on Wednesday ahead of the June election. Here are some of the winners and losers:

Winners:

• Parents of preschoolers, who get free child care in a licensed daycare for kids aged two-and-a-half until kindergarten.

• Seniors, who get free prescriptions aged 65 and up and, once they are 75, up to $750 to help with household maintenance so they can remain in their homes.

• Welfare recipients, whose social assistance benefit rates will rise 3 per cent annually.

• Early childhood educators, most of whom are getting a raise by 2020.

• People with no dental or prescription drug coverage who will get benefits worth $700 a year for a family of four.

Losers:

• People earning $95,000 or more, whose personal income taxes will rise by about $200 as a result of tax bracket changes and the elimination of surtaxes.

• Smokers, whose cigarette prices are going up $4 a carton Thursday morning and another $4 next year.

• Future generations saddled with a net debt that will jump to $400 billion by 2024-25.