Ontario budget to spend billions on emerging from COVID-19 pandemic The budget says the province’s vaccination effort is costing $1 billion.The government says it is also spending $2.3 billion over the next year on COVID-19 testing and contact tracing.A grant program launched last year for manufacturing personal protective equipment and other supplies is getting a $50-million boost.Ontario’s overall heath funding is being hiked to $69.8 billion, up from $66.7 billion the previous year.Hospitals are getting an additional $1.8 billion to help ease pandemic-related pressures.That includes $300 million to reduce the backlog of surgical procedures that have been cancelled or delayed due to the pandemic.The budget indicates those funds will.