Last year’s provincial budget projected a $2.2 billion surplus this year, growing to $8.4 billion next year. But with revenue $7.3 billion less than expected and spending $3.7 billion higher, the result is an $8.8-billion deficit; the Tories now predict a budget surplus in 2026-27. (The Logic)

Talking point: Government ministers had previewed many of the budget’s marquee items, including a $1.8-billion boost for municipal infrastructure, a small funding increase for universities and colleges and an extension of a 2022 provincial gasoline-tax cut to the end of this year. The budget includes funding to refurbish supercomputers at the universities of Toronto and Waterloo, amid a general cut to university and college spending that the government attributes to lower enrollments of international students. It also extends a $5-million annual program to support critical minerals mining research for three years.