Ontario is headed for a huge deficit of $18 billion over the next two years as it combats the effects of the global economic downturn, Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan revealed on Tuesday.

Speaking in advance of the 2009 provincial budget, Duncan unveiled the figure during a speech to Canadian Club and Empire Club in Toronto.

“I can tell you now that the combined Ontario deficit over this year and next will be in the range of $18 billion,” Duncan said.

Duncan added that the projected deficit be “certainly lower that Ontario experienced in the early 1990s.”

Duncan will present the 2009 Ontario Budget on March 26.

He said he will present a plan and a timeline to move Ontario out of deficit.

Last week, TD Bank chief economist Don Drummond warned Ontario was headed for a record $13 billion provincial budget or worse in 2009-10.

IE

IE