Ontario Financial Accountability Officer Peter Weltman - File Photo

Ontario is projected to have a budget surplus of half a billion dollars, as opposed to the $2.2 billion deficit projected by the provincial government.

This comes in a report released Tuesday by the Financial Accountability Office, which notes revenue gains are expected to exceed program spending.

This would result in a surplus of $10.6 billion by 2025-2026, more than double what the Ford PC’s have projected for that same year, and would increase to more than $16 billion by 2028.

The report states should those projected surpluses be used to pay down public debt, Ontario’s debt burden would decline for an unprecedented seven consecutive years to just under 32 percent…the lowest since 2008-2009.

However, the FAO is also reporting the province’s economy will slow in 2023 and 2024.

This as a result of high interest and a weaker global environment, bringing revenue growth for Ontario to 2%, down from 6.5% percent in 2022-2023.

The fiscal watchdog notes resilience in consumer spending and the tight labour market could last longer than expected improving the province’s economic and revenue outlook.

However interest rate increases by the bank of Canada, a possible US recession and spending pressures could negatively impact the economic and budget outlook.