Letters to Provinces and Territories: Ontario 2022

The Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy, 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,

I am pleased to provide you with Ontario’s transfer payment amounts for 2023‑24 in accordance with the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act (the Act) and relevant regulations.

Total major transfers to Ontario for 2023‑24 will round to $26,017 million—an increase of $2,284 million from 2022-23. The first estimates of your province’s Canada Health Transfer and Canada Social Transfer payments for 2023‑24 are $19,213.7 million and $6,382.3 million respectively.  In accordance with the legislated formula under the Act and its regulations, your province’s Equalization payment for 2023‑24 will be $420.9 million.

In 2023-24, the federal government will provide a total of $49.4 billion to provinces and territories under the Canada Health Transfer—an increase of 9.3% from 2022‑23.

This increase follows the significant financial support provided by the federal government during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which approximately eight out of every ten dollars invested to fight the virus and support Canadians came from the federal government.

As our governments discuss any future investments to support our health systems and health care workers, the immediate challenges faced by provincial and territorial health systems remain pressing. Our health care workers are experiencing burnout, and our hospitals are under stress due to a sharp rise in respiratory illnesses, particularly among children. Improving our health systems for Canadians is a shared responsibility, and we must ensure that new and existing funding will deliver meaningful results, including improved access to family health, mental health, and better data, and meet the needs of Canadians—both now and in the years to come.

Enclosed for your information is a table presenting the 2023‑24 major transfer amounts for each province and territory. The table will be provided to your officials and posted publicly on the Department of Finance’s website on December 16, 2022.

I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with you, the federal Minister of Health, and his provincial and territorial counterparts to serve and support Canadians.

Yours sincerely,

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