Ontarians could receive the $200 rebate cheques promised by the provincial government by the end of January, a government spokesperson says.
Premier Doug Ford hinted last fall that residents could look forward to their cheque arriving by “early” 2025, but the exact timing was never formally announced by the province.
A finance ministry spokesperson told The Epoch Times in a Jan. 3 email that Ontario residents won’t have to wait much longer.
“Our government is putting money back into taxpayers’ pockets with a $200 rebate cheque that is expected to land in mailboxes by late January or early February,” spokesperson Colin Blachar said. “This would include an additional $200 for each eligible child as we support families and keep costs down.”
Ontario pledged last October to send a $200 rebate cheque to all taxpayers in the province—an estimated 12.5 million adults. An Oct. 29 government press release said 2.5 million children would also be eligible to receive the rebate.
Adults who have filed a 2023 income tax return are eligible for the rebate as long as they were not incarcerated or bankrupt in 2024.
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The rebate cheques will cost the province roughly $3 billion, Ford said, adding that the province has money in its coffers to afford the program thanks to the inflationary increase in provincial sales tax revenues and changes made to the federal capital gains tax.
The government cheques are a bid to offset the “high costs of the federal carbon tax and interest rates,” Ford told reporters at a news conference last year.
“This $200 taxpayer rebate will give Ontario taxpayers, especially families with children, some much-deserved help so they can make ends meet,” Ford said.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles has called the initiative an attempt to “buy the goodwill” of voters, while Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie has said it’s “a pre-election bribe.”
“It’s not a solution the affordability crisis, it’s not a solution to building the affordable homes people need, it’s not a solution to getting a family doctor,” Stiles said last year.
Crombie suggested the province allocate the extra money toward a promised tax cut, saying that would be a better way to save people money.
Ford has dismissed accusations, saying the cheques are meant to help people with the affordability crisis.
The province’s fixed election date is ion June 4, 2026. While Ford ruled out calling an election in 2024, he has not excluded the possibility of an election occurring sometime this year.
