City of Vaughan

The recently released 2023 Ontario budget outlines a responsible and targeted approach that supports both people and businesses. The budget is comprised of six core pillars:

1. Building Ontario’s Economy for Today and Tomorrow
2. Building Highways, Transit, and Infrastructure Projects
3. Working for Workers
4. Keeping Your Cost Down
5. Better Services for You
6. Protecting You and Your Family

Core pillars of the 2023 Ontario budget comprise a comprehensive plan by the Government of Ontario to support residents and businesses across the province. Most notably the 2023 Ontario budget plans to support businesses and talent by:

• Launching the new Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit, which provides a 10 per cent refundable corporate income tax credit to help manufacturers in Ontario lower their costs, invest in works innovate and become more competitive.
• Advancing Ontario’s Critical Mineral Strategy to better support connections between industries, resources and workers in northern Ontario and manufacturing in Southern Ontario.
• Improving competitiveness by planning to enable an estimated $8 billion in cost savings and support for some Ontario employers in 2023, with $3.6 billion going to small businesses. That includes expanding access to the small business Corporate Income Tax rate by increasing the phase-out range. This would provide Ontario’s small businesses with additional Ontario income tax relief of $265 million from 2022–23 to 2025–26.
• Launching a voluntary clean energy credit registry that provides businesses with a tool to meet their environmental and sustainability goals and demonstrate that their electricity has been sourced from clean resources, such as hydroelectric, solar, wind, bioenergy, and nuclear power.
• Attracting over $16 billion in investments by global automakers and suppliers of EV batteries and battery materials to position Ontario as a global leader on the EV supply chain, even before the most recent announcement that a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG will establish an EV battery manufacturing facility in St. Thomas, Ontario.
• Providing $224 million in 2023–24 for a new capital stream of the Skills Development Fund to leverage private-sector expertise and expand training centres, including union training halls to provide more accessible, flexible training opportunities for workers.
• Enhancing the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program with an additional $25 million over three years to attract more skilled workers, including in-demand professionals in the skilled trades, to the province.
• Expanding access to dual credit opportunities in healthcare-related courses for an additional 1,400 secondary students with an additional investment of $3.3 million over the next three years.
• Helping close to 27,000 students earn credits towards both their Ontario Secondary School Diploma and a postsecondary degree, diploma, certificate, or Certificate of Apprenticeship at the same time through dual credit opportunities.
• Expanding the Ontario Bridge Training Program with an additional $3 million in 2023–24 to help internationally trained immigrants find employment in their fields and get faster access to training and supports towards a license or certificate.
• Building the healthcare workforce with $22 million to hire up to 200 hospital preceptors to provide mentorship, supervision, and training to newly graduated nurses, $15 million to keep 100 mid‐to‐late career nurses in the workforce and $4.3 million to help at least 50 internationally trained physicians get licensed in Ontario.

Vaughan Economic Development remains committed to business retention, expansion, and attraction efforts that focus on a variety of industries to encourage further diversification of Vaughan’s economy. Economic Development continues to provide businesses with advisory services through direct business strategy consultations and corporate calls, seminars and events, and assistance to businesses expanding in Vaughan. In coordination with the Corporate and Strategic Communications department, Economic Development will continue to promote services, programs, and initiatives that support Vaughan businesses as they navigate changes in the economy. Economic Development offers a suite of programming tailored towards supporting new and existing businesses:

• B2B Industrial Tour – Vaughan-based companies with 20 employees or more and operating within the industrial facility sector, such as a warehouse, factory or distribution centre, can register to be matched with a company to tour each other’s facilities and share operational best practices, policies and business challenges.
• Better Your Business – The Better Your Business program is designed to increase awareness of the resources available to help Vaughan’s business community improve their processes, practices and policies and ensure they are socially and environmentally responsible.
• Better Your Business | Tourism Diversity Program – Tourism Vaughan provides up to 24 tourism-related businesses with an opportunity to plan and develop more inclusive and diverse tourism products, services and experiences.
• Talent City Vaughan – The program helps residents and Vaughan-based businesses access and undertake opportunities to enhance workforce skills. Talent City Vaughan provides micro-grants of up to $10,000 for eligible non-profit community and social service organizations delivering skills development and training to Vaughan talent.
• Starter Company Plus – The Vaughan Starter Company Plus program is designed to help businesses start, grow, or expand. Qualified program participants will receive tailored training and mentorship and will also have the opportunity to apply for a provincial grant of up to $5,000.
• Summer Company Plus – Access mentorship from Vaughan’s business community, tools, services and workshops to make your goals a reality. This is your opportunity to get up to $3,000 in provincial grant funding to kick-start your business. Apply now to the Summer Company program that prepares young entrepreneurs with a pipeline of tools, skills, connections and resources required to succeed.

Vaughan’s Economic Development team can help keep you up to date with Provincial programs that will flow from these investments. Connect with an Economic Development Officer to discuss opportunities to work with the Province.