Bill 101 explained in plain English
Balanced Budget and Debt Limit Act, 2012
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 40th Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
The Balanced Budget and Debt Limit Act, 2012, requires Ontario's Executive Council to plan for and present balanced budgets starting in the 2018-2019 fiscal year, imposes salary reductions for deficits, and limits the province's net debt to 50 per cent of its gross domestic product.
Bill 101, the Balanced Budget and Debt Limit Act, 2012, aims to establish a framework for balanced budgets and limit provincial debt. It introduces requirements for the Executive Council to plan for and present a balanced budget, with specific provisions for extraordinary circumstances like natural disasters or war, and for significant revenue declines. The bill also outlines consequences for deficits, including salary reductions for Executive Council members. Additionally, it imposes a limit on Ontario's net debt, restricting borrowing if it would exceed 50 per cent of the province's gross domestic product. The Act repeals certain sections of the Fiscal Transparency and Accountability Act, 2004, and amends the Financial Administration Act.
- Enacts the Balanced Budget Act, 2012.
- Amends the Financial Administration Act.
- Repeals section 4 of the Fiscal Transparency and Accountability Act, 2004.
- Requires the Executive Council to plan for a balanced budget starting with the 2018-2019 fiscal year.
- Requires the Minister of Finance to present a balanced budget starting with the 2018-2019 fiscal year.
- Makes special provisions for expenditures arising from extraordinary circumstances like natural disasters or war.
- Makes special provisions for revenue declines of 5 per cent or more that are not due to tax changes.
- Requires a recovery plan for achieving a balanced budget if a deficit is planned.
- Details of the recovery plan must be included in the multi-year fiscal plan.
- Reduces the salary of Executive Council members if there is a deficit.
- Establishes different salary reduction rules based on the size of the deficit.
- Limits Ontario's net debt to 50 per cent of its gross domestic product.
- Prohibits the Crown from borrowing or issuing securities if it would cause net debt to exceed this limit.
- The Executive Council of Ontario
- The Minister of Finance
- Members of the Executive Council
- The Crown (Government of Ontario)
- The Legislative Assembly of Ontario
- The Executive Council must plan for a balanced budget for fiscal years starting April 1, 2018, or later.
- The Minister of Finance must present a balanced budget for fiscal years starting April 1, 2018, or later.
- If a deficit is planned, the Executive Council must develop a recovery plan.
- The Crown cannot raise money by loan or issue securities if it would cause net debt to exceed 50 per cent of GDP.
- The salary of Executive Council members is reduced if the Province has a deficit.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The Balanced Budget Act, 2012 (Schedule 1) comes into force on April 1, 2018.
- The amendments to the Financial Administration Act (Schedule 2) come into force on the day the Act receives Royal Assent.
- The Act imposes a limit on Ontario's net debt, which is defined as the difference between the Province's total liabilities and its financial assets.
- The limit on net debt is 50 per cent of Ontario's gross domestic product (GDP) at market prices, seasonally adjusted and at annual rates, as published in the Minister of Finance's most recent quarterly economic accounts.
- Salary reductions for Executive Council members are mandated in cases of deficits.
- If the Province has a deficit, the salary of each member of the Executive Council is reduced.
- For an initial deficit over 1 per cent of revenues, the salary reduction is 25 per cent for 12 months.
- For subsequent or larger deficits, the salary reduction can increase to 50 per cent for 12-month periods.
- The Act defines 'expenditures' and 'revenues' based on the Public Accounts, but specific accounting policies or practices adopted after a fiscal year begins are not to be considered in determining deficits for that year.
- The calculation of 'accumulated net surplus' has specific rules for the fiscal years beginning April 1, 2018, and April 1, 2019, which differ from the general three-year calculation.
- The Act does not specify the exact amount of the deficit that triggers the 50 per cent salary reduction beyond stating it occurs after the first year's deficit is established and a second year deficit occurs or the second year is not balanced as required.
This new Act establishes requirements for balanced budgets, recovery plans, and salary reductions for deficits.
Source: Bill 101, Section 2
This Act is amended to prevent the Crown from increasing Ontario's net debt beyond 50 per cent of its gross domestic product through borrowing or issuing securities.
Source: Bill 101, Schedule 2, Section 1
Section 4 of this Act, which previously governed balanced budget planning and permitted deficits, is repealed.
Source: Bill 101, Schedule 1, Section 5 (1)
Paragraph 8 of subsection 5 (3) of this Act is repealed as a consequential amendment.
Source: Bill 101, Schedule 1, Section 5 (2)
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
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Vote Summary
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No published representative vote breakdown
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Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced