Ford government ‘Protect Ontario’ tariff program spent $140 million so far

Nearly two years into an escalating trade battle with the United States, the Ford government’s signature $5 billion ‘Protect Ontario’ account has spent just $140 million to shore up tariff-impacted businesses.

During the snap election in February 2025, Premier Doug Ford pledged billions of taxpayers’ dollars to help Ontario companies hardest hit by the Trump administration’s tariffs – an amount that was later codified in the provincial budget.

On Tuesday, during a financial and economic committee at Queen’s Park, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy was grilled by opposition MPPs on how much of that cash has actually been deployed.

Bethlenfalvy, along with government members, repeatedly tried to sidestep the question by asserting the fund was run by the Ministry of Economic Development before claiming the entire line of questioning was out of scope for the minister of finance.

Eventually, after repeated questions, Bethlenfalvy punted the question to a civil servant for the full amount.

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“Since the launch of the program, 36 applications have been received totaling just under $100 million,” said Deputy Minister of Finance Gadi Mayman told the committee.

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“Eighteen out of those applications have been approved; that represents about $40 million, in addition to the $100 million on Algoma steel support.”

Liberal Finance Critic Stephanie Bowman said the amount speaks volumes about what the government has on offer.

“What this government’s got on offer isn’t working,” Bowman told reporters after the committee.

“Only $40 million in funding to help Ontario businesses. That’s 0.01 per cent of our GDP, so clearly the program is not working.”

Bethlenfalvy pushed back and pointed to other supports that the government claims has had positive uptake.

“With the $30 billion in supports, multiple dollars have flowed [including] the Ontario Together Trade Fund which has been well received by those who need the funds and want to pivot those businesses,” Bethlenfalvy said.

One year after establishing the Protect Ontario account, the Ford government said it would spin off billions in funding and redeploy it into an investment fund that would be managed by a private sector partner.

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As part of the 2026 budget, the finance minister said the “Protect Ontario Account Investment Fund” would identify a “pipeline of new economy-enabling investment opportunities” in new sectors such as artificial intelligence, defence, advanced manufacturing, life sciences and critical minerals.

Six months later, faced with a potentially weakened economy, the finance minister said the fund has taken a back seat.

“I would say it’s not the top priority because we want to make sure that we continue to have powder available,” Bethlenfalvy said on Sept. 25. “We’re in a very uncertain time.”

Days later, the minister clarified that while the fund still exists on paper, the government isn’t actively working on it.

“It’s not that we’ve shelved it, we’re not advancing it at this point in time,” Bethlenfalvy said.