Highlights from the 2022 fiscal plan

Here are highlights from the Ontario budget tabled Thursday:

Funding for hospitals

Hospital infrastructure projects are slated to receive more than $40 billion over the next decade, including about $27 billion in capital funding.

The province says the money will help support hospital projects already underway or currently in the planning stage, as well as going toward new facilities.

Home care for seniors

A new personal income tax credit will help offset the cost of some medical expenses for seniors.

The budget says the new Ontario Seniors Care at Home credit will refund up to 25 per cent of eligible expenses up to $6,000, for a maximum credit of $1,500.

Low-income tax relief

The province is promising to boost tax relief for lower-income workers and families and increase the number of people who qualify for the benefit.

The budget says1.1million Ontario taxpayers stand to save an additional $300 this year, on average, as a result of changes to the Low-Income Individuals and Families Tax Credit program.

Expanding highways

The government says it will pour $25.1 billion over 10 years into repairing, expanding and creating highways, roads and bridges in various parts of the province.

The province says it will spend nearly $493 million this year to get shovels in the ground for previously announced projects in northern Ontario.

Moving out of Toronto

Several provincial agencies could leave the Toronto area in a move the government says would save on real estate costs and bring jobs to other regions.

The Ontario Public Service will also look at a hybrid work model for employees as part of the same effort, according to the budget.

The OPS is designing and testing out coworking spaces in Hamilton, London, Ont., Sudbury, Ont., and Ottawa, with a plan to look into other regional locations in the future as needed.

Cultural tax credits

A series of tax credits conceived in the late 1990s to support cultural media are poised to be revamped to account for current practices and the rise of online production and distribution.

The budget says productions distributed exclusively online will be eligible for a credit, and the province will scrap a rule that limited credits to books with more than 500 hard copy editions published.