The Canadian Union of Public Employees wants the provincial government to focus on investing in programs, not making cuts.

Appearing before a pre-budget hearing, President Fred Hahn says a lack of funding to the staffing difficulties experienced by municipalities, school boards, and hospitals.

“The problem is so acute that the Association of Municipalities of Ontario has developed an ongoing workforce development project aimed precisely at curbing staff attrition in municipalities throughout the province,” says Hahn.

Hahn adds there also needs to be an increase in funding specifically tied to wage increases to help stem the flow of talent and skill from the public sector.

“Ontario continues to spend the least for public services per capita when compared to all other provinces. If we spend just the average of what the rest of Canada spends per capita on public services, we’d have an additional $57.1 billion in program spending for last year alone,” says Hahn.