Section D: Ontario’s 2024–25 Borrowing Program
Table 6
Ontario’s 2024–25 Borrowing Program
($ Billions)
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | 2024–25 | |
| | 2024 Budget | | | Current Outlook | | | Change from 2024 Budget | |
Deficit/(Surplus) | | | 9.8 | | | | 9.8 | | | | – | |
Investment in Capital Assets | | | 17.7 | | | | 17.7 | | | | – | |
Non-Cash and Cash Timing Adjustments | | | (11.0) | | | | (11.0) | | | | – | |
Net Loans and Investments | | | (0.3) | | | | (0.3) | | | | – | |
Debt Maturities and Redemptions | | | 28.0 | | | | 28.0 | | | | – | |
Total Funding Requirement | | | 44.2 | | | | 44.2 | | | | – | |
Decrease/(Increase) in Short-Term Borrowing | | | (5.0) | | | | (5.0) | | | | – | |
Increase/(Decrease) in Year-End Cash and Cash Equivalents1 | | | (1.0) | | | | (1.7) | | | | (0.7) | |
Total Long-Term Public Borrowing | | | 38.2 | | | | 37.5 | | | | (0.7) | |
1 | Starting in 2024–25, pre-borrowing will be reflected as part of the increase in year-end cash and cash equivalents. |
Note: Numbers may not add due to rounding.
Source: Ontario Financing Authority.
Ontario’s current funding requirements and short-term borrowing for 2024–25 are projected to remain unchanged from the forecast in the 2024 Ontario Budget. The province’s long-term borrowing program for 2024–25 is now forecast to be $37.5 billion.
As of August 7, 2024, Ontario had completed $22.3 billion or 60 per cent of its $37.5 billion 2024–25 long-term borrowing program. Approximately $18.9 billion or 85 per cent was completed in Canadian dollars, with the remaining $3.4 billion or 15 per cent completed primarily in U.S. dollars and Australian dollars.
Green Bonds remain a core component of Ontario’s borrowing program and are an important tool to help finance public transit initiatives, extreme weather-resilient infrastructure, as well as energy efficiency and conservation projects. Ontario remains the largest issuer of Canadian dollar Green Bonds, totalling $19.25 billion issued since 2014–15, with $17.2 billion outstanding.
On June 17, 2024, the province of Ontario issued its sixteenth Green Bond, the first offering of the current fiscal year and the second under the province’s new Sustainable Bond Framework. Four projects were selected as eligible to receive funding from this issue, with the initiatives supporting clean transportation.
Ontario plans to continue its leadership in the Canadian dollar Green Bond market and, subject to market conditions, will issue multiple Green Bonds each fiscal year, including in 2024–25.
Ontario’s cost of borrowing for 2024–25 remains at 4.0 per cent, as long-term rates have remained within the range forecasted in the 2024 Ontario Budget through the first quarter. The province will continue to monitor movements in interest rates and provide regular updates on interest on debt expense in future fiscal updates.
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