What you need to know about Ontario’s budget plans

More legislation implementing the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan is coming this spring.

The government announced that, and a lot more in its 2016 budget Feb. 25. Advisor.ca teamed up with our colleagues at Benefits Canada to bring you all the latest financial, pension and investing news from Canada’s most populous – and indebted – province.

The budget deficit for fiscal year 2015-16 is expected to come in at $5.7 billion, down from the last estimate of $7.5 billion.

Ontario’s net debt will hit $308 billion in 2016-17, the largest of any sub-national jurisdiction in the world, costing $11.8 billion in interest payments, which will increase to $13.1 billion by 2018-19.

Here’s a roundup of our coverage so far, with more to come.

• Ontario will continue working with other provinces toward a single capital markets regulator, it also plans to update securities laws, give whistleblowers more protection, and allow information from investigations be used in more Securities Act

Read: Ontario budget pushes CCMR, tougher regs and enforcement

• The government will introduce more ORPP legislation in the spring. It will focus on employer eligibility, benefit calculations, and the compliance and enforcement regime.

Read: Ontario Budget: The ORPP pushes ahead, more details to come in spring

• Ontario is introducing changes to the Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act, 2015 and is proposing changes to enable the introduction of pension advisory committees.

Read: Ontario Budget: Province to introduce PRPP changes

• Less than two months after Quebec changed the funding rules for its private defined benefit pension plans, the Ontario government said it will proceed with a review of the province’s solvency funding framework for single-employer defined benefit pension plans. The government also plans to extend temporary solvency funding relief measures.

Read: Ontario Budget: Province starts reviewing pension solvency rules

And there’s even more:

Redesigned public drug program to come by 2019

WSIB reductions, income testing for benefits, streamlined benefits for the education sector

Government continues to consult on target benefit plans

Final report on modernization of pension plans to come this spring

Gender wage gap committee to report in May