Toronto, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation released Leger polling showing 81 per cent of Ontarians are concerned about the province’s rising debt.

“The poll shows that Ontarians want the Ford government to start taking Ontario’s debt seriously,” said CTF Ontario Director Jay Goldberg. “Ontario has more debt than any non-national government in the world and folks don’t want to pass a massive debt burden onto their children and grandchildren.”

The Leger poll asked Ontarians how concerned they are about Ontario’s government debt burden.

Results of the poll show:

• 42 per cent of Ontarians are very concerned and 39 per cent of Ontarians are somewhat concerned about the province's debt levels
• Just 11 per cent of Ontarians are not at all concerned about Ontario’s debt

“The upcoming fall economic update is the perfect time for the government to commit to get the debt down now,” said Goldberg. “Premier Doug Ford should step up and announce a plan to return to a balanced budget next year and to continue to reduce the debt in future years.” 

The Ontario government has increased the provincial debt by $145 billion over the past decade, including by more than $80 billion under Ford.

This year, the Ford government expects to spend $13.9 billon on debt interest which is more than the province’s entire budget for post-secondary education.

“Ontarians clearly want the government to take action to stop the debt binge,” said Goldberg. “It’s time for Ford to balance the books and start getting these numbers down.”