As the cost of living rises in the province, Ontario’s government finds itself under increasing pressure to address affordability just weeks after it delivered its latest budget.

Opposition parties and anti-poverty advocates are questioning the wisdom of holding off on immediate measures to provide cost-of-living relief.

On budget day, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy acknowledged that Ontarians have been hit by rising costs because of U.S. tariffs, the war in Iran and general global economic uncertainty. But he found himself defending the lack of affordability measures in the spending plan, pointing to a time-limited HST cut for new home buyers, amongst a mix of previously announced policies.

“People are feeling very anxious,” Bethlenfalvy said on budget day. “It's a challenging world that we live in, and the uncertainty has hit our shores.”