Doug Ford will continue as Ontario’s Premier for a historic third term
The Progressive Conservatives win marks the first time since 1959 that a party leader has won three consecutive majority governments.
On February 27, Premier Doug Ford claimed victory as his Progressive Conservatives (PC) obtained its third majority term at Queen’s Park after a snap election was called on the threat of U.S. tariffs that could damage Ontario’s economy.
Ford’s called a snap election over a year ahead of the originally scheduled June 4, 2026, arguing that he needed a “strong mandate” to direct the province through any potential trade war with the U.S. Ford’s government now faces renewed pressure to address Ontario’s struggles, both old and new.
The PC Party, led by Ford, secured 80 seats as of writing, an improvement from the 79 they held before the campaign. This marked an impressive achievement, making him the first Ontario leader since the 1950s to win three consecutive majorities.
Opposition parties left at a disadvantage
The snap election did not help Ford’s rivals as they struggled to focus voter attention on scandals surrounding Ford, including the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) criminal investigation of Ford’s Greenbelt scandal. To make matters worse, split voting among the three opposition parties discouraged a unified front.
Canada’s New Democrats (NDP), with 27 seats, returns as the official opposition despite facing the challenge of discerning themselves as a credible alternative. The loss was a disappointing outcome given that it is the party’s third term as the official opposition and that they were unable to unseat the PCs in any of their strongholds.
The Liberals obtained 14 seats, an increase from single-digit representation after two terms. However, their new leader, former Mississauga mayor, Bonnie Crombie, failed to win her own seat in Mississauga East-Cooksville.
On a brighter note, Liberals emerged as a resurgent force in this election, capturing 29.95 per cent of the popular vote and leapfrogging the NDP’s 18.55 per cent. The Green Party managed to retain their two seats in Guelph and Kitchener Centre but fell short of their goal to win over rural voters.
Criticism of the snap election
Some, including Democracy Watch, criticized the snap election, calling it “self-interested.” According to a statement posted on their website, Co-founder of Democracy Watch Duff Conacher said, “With less than half of eligible voters casting ballots in the Ontario election, the second lowest turnout ever, and a distorted false majority, alarm bells should be going off and questions raised about the legitimacy of Doug Ford’s PC Party government which wasted almost $200 million of the public’s money on his self-interested, mid-winter snap election.”
At a staggering C$189 million price tag, Democracy Watch labelled the process as undemocratic, as Conacher further explained, “Voter turnout will go up significantly only if the voting system is changed, if the parties make changes to require everyone in politics to be honest, ethical, open and waste-preventing, and if Elections Ontario does its job properly and informs Ontarians of the real reasons to vote and their right to decline their ballot.”
Implications for post-secondary education
Under Ford’s leadership, universities in Ontario have faced significant funding challenges, resulting in a heavy reliance on international students for financial support. In an email interview with The Medium, representatives of the According to the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario (CFS-O) noted that international students contribute more than half of tuition revenue while representing less than 20 per cent of the total student population.
This over-reliance, compounded by chronic underfunding of institutions, has created an unsustainable post-secondary education model. With the federal government’s recent cap on international student enrollment, Ontario’s colleges and universities are already feeling disheartening repercussions, with York University experiencing abrupt program cuts, and the 2021 insolvency of Laurentian University serving as a cautionary tale.
Historically, Ford’s government has not taken measures to make post-secondary education a key priority. The CFS-O explained that “the Ford government’s plan for performance-based funding and the over-reliance on tuition fees, reflects a disregard for public education,” and fails to address the root issue: chronic underfunding.
CFS-Ontario wants students to come together and push for a new funding model. Students need to demand free education and protect their right to organize because it is the only way to hold representatives accountable for their neglect of student issues.
CFS-Ontario also highlighted the need to foster the freedom of student unions, as students face threats when holding university administrations and the government accountable, which stifles meaningful debate in spaces meant to encourage learning.
