The estimates from our earlier logistic regression indicated that the likelihood that a highschool non-completer uses provincial social assistance is more than twice that of a highschool graduate. If the highschool graduation rate were to fall to 82.6 per cent from a cut to public education funding, it could cost Ontario an average of $6.4 million each year on provincial social assistance programs. Over two decades, Ontario could see the fiscal costs to social assistance accrue to $1.4 billion.