The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on Ontario Premier Doug Ford to cut government spending as the Financial Accountability Office projects interest charges on the debt will soon exceed $2 billion a month.

“The Ontario government is already spending more money on debt interest payments than it spends on salaries for every teacher in the province,” said Noah Jarvis, CTF Ontario Director. “The Ford government is pretending that is going to get its borrowing under control, but the FAO shows that simply isn’t accurate and the province’s credit card bill will continue to soar indefinitely.”

Debt interest charges will already cost taxpayers $17.2 billion this year and taxpayers are projected to pay $24 billion in debt interest charges by 2030-31. That’s more than $2 billion every month. For context, the Ontario is spending $17.1 billion to pay salaries and benefits for teachers.

Debt interest charges will rise nearly twice as fast as health-care spending and nearly three times as fast as education spending, according to the report.

The Ontario government’s debt interest charges are projected to rise by eight per cent annually over the next five years, according to the Financial Accountability Office’s new Economic and Budget Outlook. That would make debt interest the fastest growing expense in Ontario’s budget.

Taxpayers will pay higher debt interest charges because the Ontario government is planning to increase government spending and borrow billions of dollars every year.

The Ontario government is planning to borrow $16.9 billion just for operational expenses next year and that yearly borrowing won’t drop below $8 billion until at least 2031, according to the report.

This will drive Ontario’s total debt to $596 billion by 2031; a $110.3 billion debt increase in five years.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the Ford government to cut wasteful government spending in the coming fall budget update and in the 2027 Ontario budget.

“Taxpayers can’t afford to hand over billions more dollars in interest charges to bondholders while the government continues to make the problem worse,” Jarvis said. “Ford needs to show some leadership and cut wasteful spending to end the government’s borrowing binge.”