Local politicians weigh in on newly released Ontario budget

The newly released 2025 Ontario budget sets a lot on the table, with details on funding for businesses, housing initiatives, local infrastructure, and more, all of which have caught the eyes of politicians across Waterloo Region.

The ‘Plan to Protect Ontario’ includes plenty that could impact different sectors across the region, including the city of Kitchener, with Mayor Berry Vrbanovic speaking with 570 NewsRadio on what he considers to be some of the main takeaways.

“This budget has really struck the right note in terms of what’s needed right now to protect Ontario’s economy, invest in our communities, and deal with some affordability issues for residents in Kitchener and throughout our province,” Vrbanovic said.

He mentioned there were a few key issues the city was particularly focused on heading into the budget, saying he hoped housing infrastructure would take particular notice at Queen’s Park.

“The things that we were advocating for were more housing enabling infrastructure, and we see an additional $400 million top-up to the housing enabling water system fund to build local infrastructure,” Vrbanovic said. “That’s needed to get more homes built, so that’s encouraging.”

Other local politicians have taken to social media to speak their minds on the latest budget, with Conservative MPP for Kitchener-Conestoga, Mike Harris, largely echoing similar sentiments to what Vrbanovic has mentioned.

Harris stated on X that the budget demonstrates the province’s “plan to unleash our province’s economy, give certainty to workers and businesses, and keep more money in people’s pockets.”

Not all reactions were positive, however, with New Democrat MPP for Waterloo, Catherine Fife, taking to social media to post her displeasure with some of the more neglected aspects of the budget.

“The 2025 Ontario budget offers no support for our struggling post-secondary sector. There is a $1.2 billion cut,” stated Fife on the social media platform X. “Investing in post-secondary education, including science and technology, is needed to create a more resilient workforce and economy.”

Like much of the province, the region has been looking for more specific directions on how to properly tackle those U.S. tariffs, which dominated a large portion of the 2025 budget. Vrbanovic mentioned that, while it’s important to get these directions on a provincial level, a more cooperative approach is needed across all branches of government.

Comment from Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic on the cooperation needed across the region to implement the budget.

“As we tackle this whole issue of tariffs and trade, it’s going to take all of government effort, both from the federal, provincial, and local governments, working together with the private sector and our communities to make sure we come out of this as strong as possible.”

Vrbanovic mentioned that, overall, he’s very pleased with the budget and is keen to work closely with the province on putting the new budget into practice.

“We’ve had a really good working relationship with this provincial government in their previous mandate, and certainly we were pleased to see them re-elected and will continue to work with them going forward.”