FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE OF ONTARIO
FAO Releases Interactive Expenditure Estimates Webpage and Four Reports on Ministry Spending Plans

On October 23, the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) released an interactive webpage that examines Ontario's 2025-26 Expenditure Estimates and four reports that review ministry spending plans in the 2025 Ontario Budget. The webpage and reports review the following ministries: Children, Community and Social Services; Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security; Education; Health; and Long-Term Care.

The 2025-26 Expenditure Estimates sets out the fiscal year's spending requirements for ministries and constitutes the government's formal request to the Legislature for approval to spend the amounts as detailed in the Estimates. The FAO's interactive webpage allows users to review a selected ministry's 2025-26 Expenditure Estimates and compare requested spending against actual spending over the previous four years from the major program (known as a Vote') to the standard account level of detail. For this year, the FAO has prepared information for five ministries, which account for 72 per cent of the Province's 2025-26 spending plan in the 2025 Ontario Budget.

To learn more, visit the interactive webpage here.

The FAO's four reports review ministry spending plans in the 2025 Ontario Budget against both historical spending and the FAO's projection for ministry spending required to maintain current service levels (also known as a cost driver forecast). Overall, the FAO found that by 2027-28, the 2025 budget spending plan is below the FAO's cost driver forecast for each ministry. This means that the Province will need to implement program efficiencies (i.e., provide the same level of services with less resources) and/or commit additional funding to each ministry to maintain 2024-25 service levels.

Finally, the reports analyze the potential impact of each ministry's spending plan in the 2025 Ontario Budget on select programs and service level indicators, and compare Ontario's historical spending against spending by the other provinces.

To learn more, read each report at the links below:

• Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services: 2025 Spending Plan Review
• Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security: 2025 Spending Plan Review
• Ministry of Education: 2025 Spending Plan Review
• Ontario Health Sector: 2025 Spending Plan Review

Quick Facts:

• For each ministry, the 2025 Ontario Budget calls for significantly slower spending growth over the three-year outlook compared to the previous three years. This includes the health sector (6.6 per cent average annual growth from 2021-22 to 2024-25 vs. 0.7 per cent planned average annual growth from 2024-25 to 2027-28); the Ministry of Education (8.3 per cent historical vs. 2.5 per cent planned), the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (6.7 per cent historical vs. -0.5 per cent planned); and the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security (10.1 per cent historical vs. -3.3 per cent planned).