FAO RELEASES EXPENDITURE MONITOR 2024-25: Q2
TORONTO, December 10, 2024 – Today, the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) released its Expenditure Monitor 2024-25: Q2 report. This report provides an update on the Province’s 2024-25 spending plan and reviews unaudited spending by the government over the first two quarters of the 2024-25 fiscal year (April 1, 2024 to September 30, 2024).
In the 2024 Ontario Budget, the Province started the 2024-25 fiscal year with a spending plan of $214.5 billion. The Province may change its spending plan throughout the year, either by requesting additional spending authority from the Legislature or by reallocating spending among different programs. As of the end of the second quarter, September 30, 2024, the Province’s spending plan was down a net $85 million to $214.4 billion. By sector, there were spending plan increases in justice ($307 million), ‘other programs’ ($282 million), children, community and social services ($51 million), health ($17 million), education ($16 million) and postsecondary education ($3 million). This was more than offset by a $760 million transfer from the Contingency Fund.
This report compares unaudited spending against the Province’s spending plan by quarter to provide information on sectors and programs that may be experiencing spending pressures or budget savings, and to track the status of the Province’s full-year spending plan. Over the first two quarters of 2024-25, the FAO estimates that the Province spent $98.3 billion compared to planned spending of $97.8 billion. This was $0.5 billion (0.5 per cent) more than planned. By sector, higher-than-planned spending was led by health ($2,628 million) and children, community and social services ($278 million). This was partially offset by lower-than-planned spending in ‘other programs’ (-$1,742 million), interest on debt (-$356 million), postsecondary education (-$211 million), education (-$123 million) and justice (-$20 million).
This report also compares 2024-25 unaudited spending against 2023-24 spending to provide context for provincial spending trends and to identify significant year-over-year spending changes. Compared to the previous year, the FAO estimates that spending in the first half of the 2024-25 fiscal year was $7.1 billion (7.7 per cent) higher than during the same period in 2023-24. The largest year-over-year spending increase was in health ($3,092 million), followed by ‘other programs’ ($1,476 million), education ($1,155 million), interest on debt ($893 million), children, community and social services ($703 million) and justice ($157 million). Postsecondary education was the only sector that experienced a year-over-year decline (-$425 million).
For more information, including spending by all of the Province’s programs and ministries, read the full report here.
Quick Facts:
- The Province started the 2024-25 fiscal year with a total of $1.5 billion in the Contingency Fund. In the first and second quarters, the Province transferred $760 million from the Contingency Fund to various programs. The remaining balance in the Contingency Fund, as of September 30, 2024, was $0.7 billion.
About the FAO:
Established by the Financial Accountability Officer Act, 2013, the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) provides independent analysis on the state of the Province’s finances, trends in the provincial economy and related matters important to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
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For further information, please contact:
Sophia Zhu | 416 931 5498 | SZhu@fao-on.org | fao-on.org