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They include big names such as Ontario Health, Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx, the government’s transportation agency, but also regional conservation authorities or organizations focused on accessibility.

“Agencies are funded with taxpayer dollars, and so we want that same culture of respect for taxpayer dollars to exist at every level,” Mulroney said. Depending on mandates, she said, some will not be affected.聽

Mulroney announced the hiring cap after the government’s release of the public accounts for 2024-25 鈥� an annual dissemination of finances that, this year, highlighted numbers showing a significant decrease in the provincial deficit.聽

Instead of the $9-billion deficit projected in the 2024 budget, Ontario recorded a $1.1-billion deficit for the fiscal year ending March 31, the government said. It attributed the decrease to the “result of higher-than-anticipated tax revenues from strong economic growth and increased revenues from the broader public sector.”聽

The overall public accounts, Finance Minister Peter聽Bethlenfalvy said, reflect a “focus on balancing smart investments with careful fiscal management. These investments are growing our economy, protecting good-jobs and creating opportunities for workers, businesses and families in every corner of the province.”

But the numbers also show that total program expenses of $212.1 billion were higher by $11.5 billion 鈥� nearly six per cent 鈥� than forecast in the 2024-25 budget. The extra spending, the report said, was related to increased costs in areas such as health care, post-secondary education, school board labour agreements, and a demand in social services “primarily resulting from an increase in the number of asylum-seekers arriving in Ontario.”

As well, the government’s debt, according to the 2025-26 budget released in May, is $489.8 billion.

Questioned about the size of the debt,聽Bethlenfalvy called it a “really good investment,” saying the government is paying into “hospitals and highways, subways, schools, a range of long-term assets that will be around a lot longer than you and I. Future generations will benefit and I think that is good debt.”

The NDP offered a less rosy perspective.聽

鈥淯nder the Conservatives, agencies like Metrolinx have ballooned to over 90 vice-presidents,” said finance and Treasury Board critic Jessica Bell (University-Rosedale).

“Meanwhile, college workers are on strike, hundreds of programs are being shuttered, and 800,000 people are without a job. The Ford government should focus less on patting themselves on the backs, and more on how they can spend in a way that actually improves the lives of Ontarians.鈥�

Liberal finance critic Stephanie Bowman (Don Valley West) called out the Tories’ limits to public agency jobs as “hypocrisy” saying it’s “astounding, when you consider that the number of well-paid staff working in the premier鈥檚 office has more than doubled.”

“This government,” Bowman said, “is painting itself into a corner where it will be forced to cut services or increase taxes. Either way, Ontarians will pay.鈥�