Ontario says 2016 deficit was $991M, auditor general says government ‘understating’ deficit

TORONTO – The Ontario government posted a $991-million deficit last year – and said Thursday it had beat its 2016 projections by $3.3 billion.

But the province’s auditor general says the Liberal government is “significantly understating” its deficit, which she pegs at $1.4 billion.

Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa and Treasury Board President Liz Sandals made the announcement Thursday as they released the province’s 2016-2017 public accounts.

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READ MORE: Debt rises to $312B as province balances 2017 budget

The government attributes the results to billions of increased revenue, a cut in program spending, and smaller interest costs to service the province’s debt.

In 2016, Ontario’s auditor general Bonnie Lysyk questioned the province’s decision to include a pair of public pensions – the Ontario Public Service Employee’s Union Pension Plan and the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan – as assets on its balance sheet. As a result, she has offered a “qualified” opinion on the financial statements two years in a row.

Sandals maintains the government is following established accounting practices and people don’t care about the on-going squabble.