"We will establish a wage grid for child care workers and ensure decent work standards to keep them on the job." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for the North, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Designing a refundable tax credit in Ontario linked to food purchased from stores indicators from the Ontario Consumer Price Index (O-CPI) and phased in similarly to the Ontario Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses (CARE) Tax Credit requires a structured approach that balances inflation responsiveness, income sensitivity, and administrative feasibility.

The NDP’s Monthly Grocery Rebate would be delivered to Ontarians on a monthly basis. The baseline credit/benefit is tied to the cost of a basket of essential food items, how much each family spent on the basket of essential food items annually before Ford became Premier, and how much that price has increased since. The amount is increased given changes to the price of the basket of essential food items in grocery stores. The rebate is non-taxable and recipients are identified based on 2024 tax filings.

This design ensures the credit adapts to rising food costs while targeting low-to-moderate-income families. By borrowing some successful elements from Ontario’s existing refundable credits (e.g., the CARE Tax Credit’s phase-in structure and the Trillium Benefit’s inflation adjustments), it balances equity, efficiency, and simplicity.

Eligibility Criteria

Residency: Recipients must be Ontario residents as of December 31 of the tax year.

Income Threshold: Introduce a phased-in structure where the credit amount decreases as household income rises.

• Full credit for family households with adjusted net income ≤ $65,000; full credit for individuals with adjusted net income ≤$50,000.

• Partial credit phased out by 3.5% of family household income exceeding $65,000, and reaching zero at $100,000 (final phase-out credit = 51%)

• Partial credit phased out by 3.5% of individual income exceeding $50,000, and reaching zero at $65,000 (final phase-out credit = 51%)

Base Credit: Provides $40 per adult in each household.

Family Size Adjustments: Provide additional amounts per dependent (eg $20 base credit per child under 18) to reflect higher food costs for larger households."

— ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will create an office for a provincial Consumer Watchdog that will be a one stop shop for consumer complaints. A core challenge of consumer protection in Ontario that enforcement requires the individual to pursue legal action, or the Government of Ontario to impose a fine on those who violate it. You shouldn't need a lawyer to stop corporations from gouging you with deceptive pricing. The Consumer Watchdog would hold the power to investigate businesses or other entities on consumer protection laws or practices. They could release public reports similar to the Auditor General or the Ombudsman of Ontario, and to level fines or other penalties against businesses found to be in violation of consumer protection legislation." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will establish a Corporate Crime and Competition Bureau to enforce competition laws and prevent coordinated price hikes among Ontario grocers. The Bureau would focus on actively monitoring large corporations and conspiracies that would otherwise be nearly impossible to detect at the consumer level." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Feed students. Kids can’t learn on an empty stomach. Families are facing record high grocery bills, and inflation from tariffs could drive up costs even further. We’ll create a universal School Food Program so that every child in Ontario is set up to succeed. Ontario already feeds some kids in school, we’ll expand it for all and use fresh food prepared and grown right here in Ontario to do it. We can help kids focus on their teacher, not their hunger, and give families some financial relief." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Commuters in Niagara will finally be able to ride on the long-planned and long-delayed expansions and improvements to the GO Lakeshore West rail line, including moving ahead on the Grimsby GO station and restoring reliable express GO service." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We’ll cost share municipal transit operating funding 50-50 to improve reliability and affordability." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will deliver on the Ojibway National Urban Park in Windsor: The Ford government is reneging on its promise to transfer provincial lands to complete this new urban park. An NDP government will transfer these lands immediately and complete the work to get the park established." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Commuters in Niagara will finally be able to ride on the long-planned and long-delayed expansions and improvements to the GO Lakeshore West rail line, including moving ahead on the Grimsby GO station and restoring reliable express GO service." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We’ll cost share municipal transit operating funding 50-50 to improve reliability and affordability." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will establish a wage grid for child care workers and ensure decent work standards to keep them on the job." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for the North, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We’ll invest in Francophone education in French school boards and French immersion programs in the English system." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will reverse Ford’s education cuts and invest in a new, needs-based funding formula. The Ford government has cut education funding by $1,500 per student since 2018, leaving schools with fewer teachers and larger class sizes." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will review the funding model to focus on student needs and not numbers of students to support vulnerable students." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"And we’ll make sure students can get to class reliably and on time by fixing Ford’s broken student transportation funding." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We’ll end the practice of streaming and make sure we are using data to support more equitable schools." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will review the funding model to focus on student needs and not numbers of students to support vulnerable students." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Hire more staff. Large class sizes, less direct support, it can be hard to learn in Ford’s Ontario. Dedicated teachers, educational assistants, child and youth workers, ECEs, custodial and trade workers – they make all the difference helping students get the one-on-one attention they need and maintaining a nurturing learning environment. Having more caring adults in schools makes them safer for everyone." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We’re committed to investing in public post-secondary education, permanently increasing base funding and investing in research and innovation to maintain our competitive edge." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Fix our schools. Ontario’s schools are saddled with a massive repair backlog left behind by the Liberals, and it has only grown under Ford’s Conservatives. Freezing classrooms without heat in the winter, gyms and cafeterias with leaking roofs. We’ll fix schools to give students a high quality, nurturing learning environment. We will invest an additional $830 million a year to clear the repair backlog within 10 years while keeping up with school maintenance needs." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Feed students. Kids can’t learn on an empty stomach. Families are facing record high grocery bills, and inflation from tariffs could drive up costs even further. We’ll create a universal School Food Program so that every child in Ontario is set up to succeed. Ontario already feeds some kids in school, we’ll expand it for all and use fresh food prepared and grown right here in Ontario to do it. We can help kids focus on their teacher, not their hunger, and give families some financial relief." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Ontario needs a centralized referral system that covers the entire province and its specialties. From pediatrics to adult care, wait times vary greatly for diagnostic imaging, surgical and specialist access. A centralized referral system would connect patients to care faster. The Ford government promised this in their Your Health plan but have not delivered." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will fund the addition of detox beds and residential treatment beds." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will increase funding to community mental health service providers, like CMHA and AMHO, that provide crucial services to help people with addictions." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will accelerate the approval of team-based primary care proposals from Community Health Centres, Nurse Practitioner Led Clinics, and Indigenous Primary Care Organizations that have submitted applications but still await review and funding." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will unlock more time for doctors to spend with patients by cutting the administrative burden and connecting doctors to a support team." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Patients Ahead of Paperwork: Family doctors are spending up to 20 hours a week, the equivalent of more than two days of full-time work, on the paperwork burden — filling out lengthy forms, writing unnecessary sick notes for employers — time that eats away at the amount of time doctors can spend with patients. Taking paperwork off of doctors’ desks will allow them to see an avg of 20 more patients a day.

• The Ontario Medical Association estimates that 40-50% of their time can be freed up when doctors are connected to team-based care. By reducing the amount of time doctors spend on administrative work, we can unlock thousands of hours for doctors to spend with patients and significantly increase the number of patients that each doctor can roster.

• We will streamline time-consuming administrative tasks and reduce the number of forms that are required to be filled out by a doctor

• We will invest in a surge of additional healthcare staff so that doctors can spend their time being doctors." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will add 3,500 doctors to the primary care system over four years. We will increase residency spots in medical schools and clear barriers for the 13,000 internationally trained and ready-to-practice doctors in Ontario who are ready to enter the healthcare workforce." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will pay community health workers fairly to make sure the sector does not fall behind. We will increase residency seats and licensing opportunities for internationally trained doctors and healthcare workers already here in Ontario who are not yet able to practice.

• We will add 3,500 doctors to the primary care system by increasing residency spots in medical schools and incentivizing new graduates to stay in primary care by connecting them to an interdisciplinary team.

• We will clear barriers for the 13,000 internationally trained and ready-to-practice doctors to enter the healthcare workforce." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Ontario needs a centralized referral system that covers the entire province and its specialties. From pediatrics to adult care, wait times vary greatly for diagnostic imaging, surgical and specialist access. A centralized referral system would connect patients to care faster. The Ford government promised this in their Your Health plan but have not delivered." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will invest $4.1 billion over four years to ensure everyone in Ontario has access to team-based primary care." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Stop the practice of “negation,” where your family doctor has to pay when you receive care from a walk-in clinic, and patients can face “deregistration” and lose their doctor as a result." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Make sure workers in the community health sector are paid fairly. Ontario needs to invest in a base budget increase of 5% or $33.7 million annually for community-governed comprehensive primary health care organizations. Members have only seen a 6% increase over 27 years." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will bring in safe nurse-patient ratios for better care and end the reliance on for-profit private nursing agencies that are costing hospitals hundreds of millions of dollars." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will establish a Northern Command Centre to support recruitment, gather data on system capacity, and quickly identify emerging workforce issues." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will increase funding to locum programs and opportunities for educational and targeted skills development in northern Ontario, building local knowledge and a skillset suited for the unique challenges of medicine in remote communities." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will eliminate parking fees at hospitals for staff, visitors and patients. No one should be worried about paying for parking at a hospital during an affordability crisis, whether you are a patient, a loved one, a front-line worker or a doctor." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will increase funding to community mental health service providers, like CMHA and AMHO, that provide crucial services to help people with addictions." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will establish wage parity for health care workers in community settings to ensure community primary care providers can also offer mental health support." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will make it easier for seniors to age at home safely with reliable access to home care and a monthly Caregiver Benefit for those caring for loved ones at home. We will make it more affordable for seniors to make renovations that will help them age at home." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Legalize more housing like fourplexes and four-storey multiplex apartments in all neighbourhoods, and midrise apartments along transit corridors as-of-right." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will get Ontario back to building with Homes Ontario, the largest homebuilding program in generations. Homes Ontario will provide grants and low-cost financing to enable more non-market housing providers, like Mel Swart Co-Operative Homes and Welland’s Commonwealth Cooperative, to build on the long history of co-operative housing in the Niagara region. We will speed up the purchase of existing privately-owned rental units, to be converted to permanently affordable public, non-profit or co-op housing." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Create 60,000 new supportive housing units, allowing people living in encampments or the shelter system to move into a safe, permanent home, while connecting them to mental healthcare, addiction treatment and other ongoing supports. This commitment is part of our broader Homes Ontario plan to build hundreds of thousands of permanently affordable in the coming years." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Build or acquire at least 300,000 permanently affordable rental homes in non-profit and co-op housing, as part of our costed Homes Ontario plan, which sets a goal of 1.5 million new homes in 10 years." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"More housing benefits that help people move out of shelters, into homes. Doug Ford has withheld funding for programs like the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit, allowing shelters to overflow. We’ll work with the Federal government to boost the program and help more people move out of shelters into homes, freeing up shelter beds in the process." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Stop people from losing their homes by bringing forward real protections for renters and doubling social assistance rates so people can better keep up with the cost of housing." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Crack down on renovictions, demovictions and other illegal tactics. We’ll beef up the rules, fix the Landlord and Tenant board and we’ll stop the Conservative and Liberal plan to evict people faster." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We’ll attach rent control to the unit to stop landlords from jacking up rent between tenants - removing the incentive for landlords to use unethical tactics to squeeze out existing tenants so they can raise the rent on the next one." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We’ll close the unfair loophole that exempts units built after 2018." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Legalize more housing like fourplexes and four-storey multiplex apartments in all neighbourhoods, and midrise apartments along transit corridors as-of-right." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Limit short-term rentals (eg: Airbnb) to one’s primary residence, protecting the supply of long-term rental housing" — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Feed students. Kids can’t learn on an empty stomach. Families are facing record high grocery bills, and inflation from tariffs could drive up costs even further. We’ll create a universal School Food Program so that every child in Ontario is set up to succeed. Ontario already feeds some kids in school, we’ll expand it for all and use fresh food prepared and grown right here in Ontario to do it. We can help kids focus on their teacher, not their hunger, and give families some financial relief." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will protect prime farmland and stop the unfair and secretive Wilmot land grab, focusing development sensibly and cost-effectively within existing urban boundaries." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We’ll make it easier to form a union and collect the bigger paycheque that comes with it, by returning to a simple card certification system." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will bring back the Stay-cation Tax Credit to encourage tourism and travel within Ontario. This will help stabilize Niagara region tourism recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and the threat of tariffs." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will work with affected industries in auto, agriculture and steel, and tourism, alongside labour unions, to defend every job, help businesses find new markets, promote Ontario-made goods and direct government to procure locally." — _On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara_, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will recognize Intimate Partner Violence as an epidemic, and ensure survivors have the support they need to get on their feet, including emergency shelters." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We’ll expand highway 40 to Sarnia and fix Carnage Alley, the most dangerous section of Hwy 401, where the Ford government failed to prioritize concrete safety barriers." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"The province will take back financial responsibility for formerly provincially owned controlled-access highways and for “Connecting Link” highways whose costs were unfairly downloaded onto municipalities, like the EC Row Expressway in Windsor." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Commuters in Niagara will finally be able to ride on the long-planned and long-delayed expansions and improvements to the GO Lakeshore West rail line, including moving ahead on the Grimsby GO station and restoring reliable express GO service." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We’ll cost share municipal transit operating funding 50-50 to improve reliability and affordability." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20