Ontario

We present data beginning with fiscal year 1965/66.

The data we present describes what the province currently refers to as it’s Consolidated Statement of Operations. In earlier years, reference was made to the Consolidated Revenue Fund. For all years, the data we present excludes the revenues and expenditures of provincial crown corporations, agencies, boards and commissions.

Since 1993/94, the public accounts have reported expenditures by major categories. This has made it relatively straightforward to report program expenditures by Health, Education, and Social Services.

Prior to 1993/94 however, the public accounts reported spending by Ministry. To continue our expenditure series backwards we need to make assumptions about which Ministries account for the spending later reported in major categories. Our Rosetta Stone for this translation is provided in the 1991/92 public accounts. This is the first year the government begins to report Expenses by Major Category and fortunately for us they also reported spending by Ministry.

In 1991/92, expenditure by major category “Health” is reported as being 32% of total expenditures. The dollar value of what this percentage represents is equal to over 98% of the expenditure reported for the Ministry of Health. This is typical for all years when spending by major categories and by Ministry is reported. For all years prior to 1993/94, we therefore report the spending of the Ministry of Health as Health spending.

The same approach is used to present expenditure on Education. In the 1991/92 public accounts, expenditure by major category “Education” is reported as being 19% of total expenditures. The dollar value of what this percentage represents is equal to 99% of the sum of expenditure reported for the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Colleges and Universities. This is again typical for all years when spending by both major categories and by Ministry is reported. For all years prior to 1993/94, we therefore report the sum of spending by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Colleges and Universities as Education spending.

Following this same strategy, the data presented in the 1991/92 public accounts as representing spending by the major category identified as Social Services is described as accounting for 20% of total expenditure. The dollar value of what this percentage represents is equal to more than 96% of the sum of expenditures by the following list of Ministries and Offices:

• Ministry of Community and Social Services

• Ministry of Housing

• Ministry of Environment¹

• Ministry of Citizenship

• Ontario Native Affairs Secretariat

• Office for Disability Issues

• Office of Francophone Affairs

• Office for Seniors’ Issues

• Office Responsible for Women’s Issues.

The list of Ministries and Offices used to credibly represent Social Services spending changed often between 1965/66 and 1991/92. Most of this is the result of what were described as “Offices” in 1991/92 were, in earlier times, simply part of the responsibilities of the Ministry of Community and Social Services. Between 1965/66 and 1990/91, we record as spending on Social Services the sum of the expenditures of the following Ministries:

1965/66Ministry of Public Welfare

1966/67 to 1970/71Ministry of Social and Family Services

1971/72Ministry of Social and Family Services

Ministry of Environment

1972/73Ministry of Community and Social Services

Ministry of Environment

1973/74Ministry of Community and Social Services

Ministry of Environment

Ministry of Social Development Policy

Ministry of Housing

1974/75 & 1975/76Ministry of Community and Social Services

Ministry of Environment

Culture and Recreation

Social Development Policy

Housing

1976/77Ministry of Community and Social Services

Ministry of Environment

Culture and Recreation

Housing

1976/78 to 1979/80Ministry of Community and Social Services

Ministry of Environment

Culture and Recreation

Social Development Policy

Housing

1980/81Ministry of Community and Social Services

Ministry of Environment

Culture and Recreation

Social Development Policy

1981/82 to 1983/84Ministry of Community and Social Services

Ministry of Environment

Ministry of Citizenship and Culture

Social Development Policy

1984/85 to 1986/87Ministry of Community and Social Services

Ministry of Housing

Ministry of Environment

Ministry of Citizenship

Office for Disability Issues

Office for Seniors’ Issues

1987/88Ministry of Community and Social Services

Ministry of Housing

Ministry of Environment

Ministry of Citizenship

Ontario Native Affairs Secretariat

Office for Disability Issues

Office for Seniors’ Issues

Office Responsible for Women’s Issues

1988/89 to 1990/91Ministry of Community and Social Services

Ministry of Housing

Ministry of Environment

Ministry of Citizenship

Office for Disability Issues

Office for Seniors’ Issues

Two other issues complicate Ontario’s public accounts. One has to do with spending on Health and the other has to do with the way in which the public accounts report the size of federal government transfers.

Prior to 1972-73, the expenditures of the Ontario Hospital Services Commission (OHSC) were not reported as part of those of the Ministry of Health and so were excluded from the Consolidated Statement of Operations. This explains the big jump in Health spending from $991 million in 1971/72 to $2,002 million in 1972/73 when the budget of the OHSC was first included in the Ministry of Health budget.

Before being integrated into the modern Ontario Health system, the OHSC was responsible for funding and administering hospital services in Ontario, effectively managing the province’s public health insurance for hospitals. Annual Reports of the Ontario Hospital Services Commission are available from the Internet Archive that provide the total expenditures of the OHSC including contributions to the costs of its operation by the Government of Canada. The following table provides data on the total expenditures of the OHSC that is drawn from that organization’s 1970 and 1971 Annual Reports.

These data are presented on a calendar year basis making it challenging to add to the data we reported as Ministry of Health expenditures, reported on a fiscal year basis. We provide these data for the use of any researcher wishing to approximate Health spending prior to 1971/72 had the OHSC been included in the Ministry of Health.

A related complication in the Ontario public accounts is that prior to 1972/73 they did not report all federal government transfers as a separately identified revenue source. The treasury ministry reports the size of General Purpose transfers received but does not report the total amount of Specific Purpose transfers received. Instead, the public accounts report specific purpose transfers as “reimbursements of expenses” by the federal government and these are reported in the accounts of each Ministry.

To determine the total amount of federal specific purpose transfers provided prior to 1972/73, we combed through the accounts of each Ministry and summed all “reimbursements of expenses” reported as coming from the federal government. These amounts, plus the general purpose transfers reported by the treasury ministry, is what we present as federal transfers for those years.

The significant jump in the size of federal transfers occurring in 1972/73 (from $710 million in 1971/72 to $1,264 million in 1972/73) is due to the issue we reported earlier, namely, that prior to 1972/73, federal government transfers related to health insurance were reported as being received by the OHSC rather than the Ministry of Health and so do not appear in the public accounts reporting of the Consolidated Statement of Operations. An indication of the size of these transfers is to be found in the 1970 Annual Report of the OHSC where Government of Canada contributions to the OHSC in calendar years 1969 and in 1970 were $315,115,316 and $357,275,522, respectively.

Researchers wishing to pursue this issue further can refer to David Perry’s estimates, published in 1997, of federal government transfers to Ontario. Perry reports federal transfers to Ontario for Hospital Insurance in fiscal year 1969/70 to have been $320.9 million. This is quite close to a weighted average of the calendar year amounts for 1969 (weighted 0.75) and 1970 (weighted 0.25) reported above ($325.7 million) and coming from OHSC accounts. Perry’s estimate therefore seems to offer a useful fiscal year estimate of federal transfers to the OHSC. Perry’s estimates may therefore provide a way of adjusting our values to make them consistent with what is reported in 1972/73 and thereafter. We provide Perry’s estimate below for convenience.

Source: David Perry, Financing the Canadian Federation, 1867 to 1995: Setting the Stage for Change (Canadian Tax Paper No. 102, 1997).