Ontario unfairly strained by $11B ‘fiscal gap’: report

TORONTO – A new study by a Toronto public policy think tank says Ontario hands Ottawa roughly $11 billion more each year than it receives from the federal government.

The study by the University of Toronto’s Mowat Centre points to what it calls the province’s “fiscal gap,” which it blames almost entirely on “inequities in federal spending.”

It says Ontario continues to contribute a disproportionate amount to federal coffers, even though it’s no longer wealthier than the average province.

The findings are based on fiscal data from 2009, the latest figures available.

Canada’s wealth-sharing equalization system — and how it affects Ontario — often drew the criticism of the province’s former premier Dalton McGuinty.

McGuinty complained as far back as 2005 that health and social transfers should be doled out on a per-capita basis.