On Election Day, voters from every corner of the province voted to decide on the next provincial government.
Progressive conservative leader Doug Ford is calling for a third consecutive term as prime minister after calling the snap election late last month.
Although Ontario was not scheduled to hold a general election until June 2026, Ford said he wanted a “strong duty” from the public to deal with the tariff threat posed by US President Donald Trump against Canada.
Ford said the state would need to spend billions of dollars to strengthen its economy if tariff threats were to materialise.
The Congress was dissolved on January 28th, paving the way for the 29-day election campaign to begin on January 29th.
Who is running?
There are several parties to today’s election race, but the main parties are the Progressive Conservatives (PCS), Liberal Party, NDP and Green Party. New Blue Party from the Ontario and the Ontario Party, which won a total of 4.5% of the total votes in 2022, will also be taking part in the vote, with some independents as well.
Let’s take a look at the party in today’s election and what they support.
Progressive Conservatives
Ford is leading the PC to a “customs election” in hopes that his party will achieve a stronger majority government than his previous term, which won 79 of Queens Park’s 124 seats.
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Ford says the key motivation for his decision to call the SNAP election to confront Trump’s threat to a potential 25% tariff on Canadian exports stems from a lack of strong federal leaders. Ford says he wants a robust four-year mandate that will not only help him navigate negotiations with the US, but also last longer than the current US administration.
NDP
NDP’s Marit Styles is leading her party in elections for the first time. The party is the official opposition of the parliament before the election, but polls show that the Liberal Party is not guaranteed to have the support.
The party also focused on finding housing to end the camp, and building more affordable housing units.
Liberals
Liberal Party Bonnie Chrome has faced her first election since stolen the leader’s reins in December 2023. The Liberal Party is trying to regain its official party status after poor performances in the previous two elections. The party held just nine seats in Parliament before the election call.
She also vowed to double the Ontario Disability Support Program, index it into inflation, tackle trade barriers between Princia, and eliminate the local land transfer tax for first-time home buyers and seniors seeking shrinking.
Green Party
Longtime Green Party leader Mike Schreiner aims to boost the party’s fortunes today, earning more than two seats he had during his previous mission. He won his own seat in the 2022 election and another party in the 2023 election at the Kitchener Centre.
New Blue Party
Ontario’s new Blue Party describes itself as “the only true blue option of voting.” The party led by Jim Kalaharios said it hopes to strengthen Ontario’s borders, reduce corporate deficits and taxes, and make the province more competitive on the global stage.
Ontario Party
The Ontario Party, led by Derek Sloan, runs with “faith, family, freedom” and “We need to make Ontario prosper again.”
What the poll says
In the Abacus data polls from February 24th to 25th, Ford PCs took the lead, accounting for 45% of the vote, once again placing the party in majority territory.
The poll showed liberal support to 29%, NDP to 16% and green to 5%. Another five per cent of those voted said they were not intending to vote for any of the four major political parties.
Progressive conservatives are ahead of the list in all regions, boasting a 26-point lead in the Greater Toronto and the Hamilton region (not including Toronto), a 15-point advantage in southwestern Ontario, and a statistical relationship with liberals in both Toronto and eastern Ontario.
When Ontario’s Parliament was dissolved, PC had 79 of Queen’s Park’s 124 seats. The NDP had 28 seats and Liberals Nine. Six seats were held by independent MPPs, while two were held by the Green Party.
This shows a change from previous elections. Nearly 10% of voters voted ahead of time in 2022, and nearly 7% did that in 2018.
