What You Need to Know about the 2025 Ontario Provincial Election for February 27, 2025
Ontario Premier Doug Ford argues that a snap election is necessary to combat US President Trump’s tariff threats, while his opponents have decried the early polls.
After weeks of speculation, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has officially called a snap provincial election for February 27.
According to conventional electoral proceedings, the province’s parliament has been dissolved at Ford’s request to LLieutenant Governor t.-Gov. Edith Dumont. After only four weeks of campaigning, Ontario voters across 124 of the province’s ridings will head to the polls and cast their votes. According to a new survey, Ford’s Progressive Conservatives (PC) are 24 points ahead of the Liberals, pointing them closer to a win.
Why the election was called
While some say that a snap election has been in the talks for some time, it was triggered by the uncertainty of who will hold power in Ottawa next and tariff threats, specifically from US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods.
Ford argued that he needed a new mandate to protect Ontario’s economy, especially the manufacturing sector, from the potential fallout of the trade dilemma.
This snap election heavily favours Ford’s Conservatives as “we haven’t seen much from the opposition in terms of being able to really define themselves,” according to Andrew Brander, former campaign manager for the Ontario Conservatives and federal Conservative candidates.
Among his opponents, who have launched their campaigns in the days following the election announcement, there is clear condemnation of the choice to call an early election, especially as the PCs already had a strong majority, with 79 of 124 seats, in the recently-dissolved provincial legislature, giving them a solid mandate to combat tariffs from the US.
The New Democratic Party (NDP) Leader Marit Stiles stated in a speech to the Rural Ontario Municipal Association, “I haven’t heard a single person say, ‘You know what we need on top of this economic bombshell coming our way and this political upheaval and chaos in Ottawa? Yeah, we need a provincial election.’” Crombie echoed such concerns, stating that Trump’s tariffs should not be “an excuse to call an unnecessary early election.”
Crombie also criticized the decision as wasteful, noting that the C$175 million that will be used to facilitate the election could have been employed to improve the province’s healthcare system.
Who is in the running?
Ford will lead the PCsProgressive Conservative Party into the election for a third time, having won majorities in both 2018 and 2022, while Marit Stiles will represent the Ontario NDP, hoping to expand the party’s presence in the legislature.
Bonnie Crombie, who became Liberal leader in December 2023, has gained ground in the polls and will lead her party into the election, while Mike Schreiner of Guelph takes the helm of the Green Party.
What are the latest results?
As of January 27, Ontario PC takes the lead, according to a recent poll from Liaison at 39 per cent, with Ontario Liberal in second place with 33 per cent. The Ontario NDP is third at 18 er cent, with Ontario Greens at five per cent tied with other parties also at five per cent.
How to vote and who can vote
Those eligible to vote can confirm, update, or add their information to register online at RegisterToVoteON.ca where they will receive their voter information card in the mail with information on when, where, and how to vote. The deadline to register is February 17.
Those who wish to vote must meet the following criteria: a Canadian citizen, 18 or older on election day, and a resident of Ontario.
