In the year since it came to power, Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government has made a sweeping array of funding cuts to Ontario services, programs, non-governmental organizations and projects in an effort to eliminate an $11.7-billion deficit.

The cuts affect everything from health care and environmental projects to legal aid, research and tourism, but details of how they will be implemented have trickled out slowly since the government unveiled its first budget in April.

In some cases, the total value of a cut was clearly stated in the budget, or has been established through reporting. In others, unspecified cuts were identified as the reason for job losses.

There are also cases where decisions to cancel a program (such as the province’s carbon cap-and-trade alliance with Quebec and California) or a contract (with the Beer Store) have been made with no immediate savings to the province, despite posing financial risks.

And one of the most contentious cuts — a retroactive funding reduction for municipalities that was estimated to cost $177 million for Toronto alone — will not end up helping the government’s bottom line this year, because it was later reversed.

Here are some of the most notable cuts:

Education

Teaching jobs: The Star revealed the Ford government plans to eliminate 3,475 teaching jobs over the next four years to save $851 million, with $131 million in savings coming in the 2019-20 school year alone. The premier and education minister insisted that no teachers would be laid off, and that the cuts would be achieved through attrition.

Student programming: In December, the Ministry of Education told school boards it was cutting $25 million from education programming in elementary and secondary schools for the 2018-19 school year. The cut affected funding for programs that provide after-school jobs for needy teens, classroom tutors and “student success” supports for racialized youth, as well as a project focusing on Indigenous issues.

University satellite campuses: In October, the province cancelled funding for three planned satellite campuses in the GTA. The Ryerson University/Sheridan College campus in Brampton and a Milton site for Wilfrid Laurier University/Conestoga College were to set to received $90 million each, while a York University/Seneca College campus in Markham was due $127.3 million.

French-language university: In November, the province announced it was cancelling plans for a long-promised French-language university, which had an estimated initial cost of $83.5 million that would be split equally between the provincial and federal governments.

Student grants: In January, the government eliminated a program that gave low-income post-secondary students enough grants to cover the full cost of their tuition. It was replaced with a grant-and-loan system — and a spending cut of $671 million on student assistance in April’s budget.

Environment

Last summer, nearly all programs funded by the province’s cap-and-trade system, which brought in approximately $1.9 billion per year, were cancelled as the Tories scrapped the carbon-pricing scheme. They included the $377-million Green Ontario Fund, which was created to help homeowners, renters and businesses save energy and shrink their carbon footprints; the Electric and Hydrogen Vehicle Incentive Program, which had given rebates of up to $14,000 for motorists buying electric vehicles; and the $100-million Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was used by school boards for renovations.

Green-energy contracts: In July, the government scrapped 758 green energy contracts in a bid to save $790 million. The province did not detail which contracts were cut, nor over what period of time the money was set to be spent.

Tree plantings: In April, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said it was cutting the 50 Million Trees program, a move designed to save $4.7 million. The program planted millions of saplings to fight erosion and protect shorelines.

Conservation authorities: In April, the province’s conservation authorities said the government has cut their funding for flood management programs in half, by $3.7 million.

Fighting invasive species: In May, the province reduced funding to at least nine programs that fight ecological threats, in particular the spread of invasive species. Among them: the Ontario Invasive Plant Council, which saw funding go from $100,000 last year to zero; the Invasive Species Centre, which is receiving $50,000 less; the Anishinabek/Ontario Fisheries Resource Centre, which loses $610,000; the Great Lakes Marsh Monitoring and the Wind Energy Bird and Bat Monitoring Database project, which each lose $25,000.

Environmental commissioner: In November, the province announced the elimination of the office of the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, saying the watchdog function would be folded into the auditor general’s operation. As part of the move, commissioner Dianne Saxe lost her job and was not replaced.

Health care

Public health overhaul: In April, the province said a new health superagency called Ontario Health would save $350 million a year when it is up and running. The move consolidated six agencies — including Cancer Care Ontario — and 14 local health integration networks under Ontario Health in an effort to trim bureaucratic and administrative costs.

Public health units: The budget included plans to amalgamate local public health units into regional bodies, merging 35 units into 10. The government said consolidating the units, which offer healthy living programs and work on disease prevention, would reduce local duplication and streamline administrative functions and was expected to trim $200 million in annual spending by 2021-22.

Prescription drug coverage: The day after the provincial government was sworn in, it announced that people with private health plans would no longer qualify for free prescriptions through the OHIP+ program. The program, enacted under the previous Liberal government, covers the cost of 4,400-plus drugs included in the Ontario Drug Benefit Program for those under age 25. The move is expected to cut $250 million in spending.

Out-of-country OHIP: In April, the government said it would cut out-of-country OHIP coverage, meaning Ontarians will have to rely upon their private insurance while abroad. The move is expected to save $9 million a year.

Youth anti-smoking initiative: In May, the government said it was extinguishing its support for a 19-year-old program called Leave the Pack Behind, which encouraged young adults to quit smoking. The program received about $1 million from the health ministry.

College of Midwives: In December, the organization that regulates midwives in Ontario announced that the government had retroactively cancelled all of its funding to the college — $750,553 — for the 2018-19 fiscal year.

Telemedicine network: Forty-four employees were laid off because of budget cuts to the Ontario Telemedicine Network, one-sixth of the agency’s workforce. The network had received $42 million in provincial funding in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018.

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Social, community and legal programs

At-risk children and youth: In May, the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies uncovered a cut in funding for children and youth at risk of $84.5 million. That included a $28-million cut to the $1.5 billion the province gives 49 Children’s Aid Societies in Ontario.

Victims of violence: In May, Independent MPP Randy Hillier revealed the budget for financial supports to help victims of violence had been cut by $17 million, which will impact women’s shelters.

Ontario Provincial Police: In May, spending estimates revealed cuts to the OPP budget totalling $46 million. The largest funding cut comes from “field and traffic services,” with corporate and strategic services also seeing a sizable hit. The government says no officers will lose their jobs.

Special Investigations Unit: In April, the provincial police watchdog was told its budget would be $6.9 million this year, down $3.1 million from last year.

Ontario Trillium Foundation: The budget cut $15 million from the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s $120-million budget, retroactive to January 2019. The agency annually helps 700 community programs across the province with “seed” grants.

Basic income pilot project: In August, the province cancelled a half-completed pilot project that was giving 4,000 Ontarians up to $17,000 per year with no strings attached. The Ford government said it would wind down the program in a “compassionate” way, allowing payments to continue until March 31, 2019. The pilot project had been expected to cost about $50 million a year.

Child and youth advocate: In November, the province moved to eliminate the independent office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth. The government later said the provincial ombudsman will take over the advocate’s investigations, and some duties will be assumed by the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. The office of the child advocate had a budget of about $13 million.

French Language Services Commissioner: In the fall, the province announced it would be eliminating the office of the French Language Services Commissioner, which advocated for the linguistic minority’s rights and had an annual budget of about $1.2 million. After days of backlash, the province said it would reinstate the position within the provincial ombudsman’s office.

Arts and culture

Ontario Music Fund: The budget reduced funding for Ontario musicians by more than half, from $15 million to $7 million.

Ontario Arts Council: The budget included a $10-million reduction in funding to the Ontario Arts Council, which awards grants to artists and organizations across the province. Half of that cut was the result of killing the $5-million Indigenous Culture Fund, which the council supported.

Regional tourism offices: The budget eliminated $17.5 million in provincial funding to 11 regional tourism offices. Tourism Toronto said it was losing $9.5 million, or about a quarter of its budget.

Library services: The budget cut funding to the Southern Ontario Library Service and Ontario Library Service North by about half, or approximately $2.5 million.

Research and technology

Artificial intelligence funding: In May, the Star revealed that the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade had cut $20 million in funding for the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence and $4 million from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, which supports AI scientists.

Stem-cell research: The government announced in May that it will not renew $5 million in funding to the Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine for stem-cell research.

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