Letters to Provinces and Territories: Ontario 2020

The Honourable Rod Phillips, M.P.P.
Minister of Finance
Government of Ontario
Frost Building South, 7th Floor
7 Queen’s Park Crescent
Toronto, ON  M7A 1Y7

Dear Minister Phillips:

This has been an unprecedented and challenging year for Canadians – but we will get through this. We are a resilient people. We are a resourceful people. And we have a plan.

The battle against COVID-19 has proceeded on many fronts. We have invested in health care, increased testing and tracing, and directly supported the provinces and territories as we fight the virus. This has been a true Team Canada effort.

Canada has secured the most diverse and extensive vaccine portfolio of any country in the world. Every Canadian can rest assured that a safe and effective vaccine will be available to them, free of charge.

To date, federal support for the Canadian economy includes $322 billion in direct measures, to fight the virus and help people, and $85 billion in tax and duty deferrals. This is the largest economic relief package for our country since the Second World War. And through the Safe Restart Agreement, Safe Return to Class Fund, and other measures, the federal government has made over $24 billion in direct support available to provinces and territories.

I write you today regarding Ontario’s transfer payment amounts for 2021-22. In accordance with the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act (the Act) and relevant regulations, total major transfers to Ontario for 2021-22 will round to $22,771 million, an increase of $713 million from 2020-21. The first estimates of your province’s Canada Health Transfer and Canada Social Transfer payments for 2021-22 are $16,758.0 million and $6,012.9 million respectively. In accordance with the legislated formula under the Act and its regulations, Ontario does not qualify for an Equalization payment for 2021-22.

Enclosed for your information is a table presenting the 2021-22 major transfer amounts for each province and territory. The table will be provided to your officials and posted on the Department of Finance’s website in December 2020.

I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with you, as a united Team Canada, to ensure Canadians stay safe, healthy, and have the economic support they need in these challenging times.

Yours sincerely,
The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, P.C., M.P.

Major Transfer Payments for 2021-22
($ millions)
Jurisdiction Equalization Territorial Formula Financing* Canada Health Transfer Canada Social Transfer Total
2021-22
NL 0 0 585 210 794
PEI 484 0 182 65 731
NS 2,315 0 1,109 398 3,822
NB 2,274 0 881 316 3,471
QC 13,119 0 9,705 3,482 26,306
ON 0 0 16,758 6,013 22,771
MB 2,719 0 1,560 560 4,839
SK 0 0 1,330 477 1,808
AB 0 0 5,030 1,805 6,835
BC 0 0 5,843 2,096 7,939
NU 0 1,782 45 16 1,843
NWT 0 1,480 51 18 1,549
YK 0 1,118 48 17 1,183
TOTAL 20,911 4,380 43,126 15,474 83,890
Totals may not add due to rounding
* Includes transition payments of $1.3 million to Yukon and $1.7 million to the Northwest Territories (Budget 2018)

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