Market2025 Ontario general election
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2025 Ontario general election

General elections were held on February 27, 2025, to elect the 124 members of the 44th Parliament of Ontario. Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives were re-elected to a third consecutive majority government, the first time a party has done so since 1959. The PCs increased their vote share to 43%, however lost three seats compared to 2022. The New Democratic Party led by Marit Stiles retained its status as the Official Opposition, albeit with four fewer seats than in 2022 and while finishing a distant third in the popular vote. The Ontario Liberal Party finished second in the popular vote but won just fourteen seats, remaining in third place in terms of seat count since 2018, although this five-seat increase was enough for the Liberals to regain official party status in the legislature for the first time since 2018. Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie however failed to win her seat in Mississauga East—Cooksville, losing to the PC candidate.

Background
Under the Ontario Elections Act, general elections must be held on the first Thursday in June in the fourth calendar year following the previous general election. As the previous election was held on June 2, 2022, this election was anticipated to be held on June 4, 2026. However, it had been speculated since early 2024 that Premier Doug Ford would call a snap election to take advantage of a lead in the polls and fundraising, as well as a desire to hold the election before the next federal election, which, at that time, the federal Conservative Party under Pierre Poilievre was considered extremely likely to win. This speculation was fueled in May 2024, when Ford refused to commit to the June 2026 date when asked by reporters at multiple press conferences for confirmation. This speculation was confirmed by Ford at a press conference on January 24. On January 28, he met with Dumont; the Provincial Parliament was formally dissolved, with a writ of election issued the next day. The election cost approximately $189 million. Electoral districts The Electoral Boundaries Act, 2015 increased the number of electoral districts from 107 to 122, following the boundaries set out by the federal 2013 Representation Order for Ontario, while preserving the special boundaries of the 11 seats in Northern Ontario set out in the 1996 redistribution. The Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission, appointed in 2016, recommended the creation of the additional districts of Kiiwetinoong and Mushkegowuk—James Bay, carved out from the existing Kenora—Rainy River and Timmins—James Bay ridings, which accordingly raised the total number of seats to 124. This was implemented through the Representation Statute Law Amendment Act, 2017. With the 2022 Canadian federal electoral redistribution, Ontario was allotted 1 additional seat in the House of Commons. On August 1, 2024, Premier Ford announced that Ontario would break with recent tradition and not adopt the federal electoral boundary changes for the next provincial election. As Northern Ontario lost a seat in the federal process, further adjustments would have been needed to maintain their extra provincial representation, which would have resulted in an extra additional riding. ==Timeline==
Timeline
2022 • June 2: The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario under Doug Ford won a second majority government in the 43rd Ontario general election. New Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath and Liberal leader Steven Del Duca both announced their resignation on election night. • June 28: Toronto—Danforth MPP Peter Tabuns was named interim leader of the NDP, becoming Leader of the Official Opposition. • August 3: Ottawa South MPP John Fraser was named interim leader of the Liberals. 2023 • February 4: Marit Stiles was declared leader of the NDP, and became Leader of the Official Opposition. • December 2: Bonnie Crombie was elected leader of the Liberals. 2025 • January 28: The lieutenant governor dissolves the Legislature. • January 29: Writs of election are issued, officially starting the campaign. • February 13: Nominations close. • February 14: First leaders' debate, organized by Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities. • February 17: Second leaders' debate, organized by Broadcast Consortium. • February 27: Election day. Seat changes By-election results ==Candidates==
Candidates
Incumbents not standing for re-election As of the candidate nomination deadline, 12 incumbent MPPs chose not to run in the 2025 Ontario election: ==Campaign==
Campaign
Ford's PCs launched their campaign in Windsor, in front of the Ambassador Bridge. Stiles' NDP launched their campaign in Toronto, while Crombie's Liberals launched their campaign in Barrie. Schreiner's Greens launched their campaign with a speech in Queen's Park. Contests Issues In January 2025, Ford began to state that he would need a "clear mandate" from voters to respond to the tariffs on Canadian imports to the United States threatened by the newly re-elected President Donald Trump. A video taken on the day of the 2024 US presidential election was later released showing Ford stating that he was "100% happy" that Trump won, until Trump threatened tariffs on Canada. Party slogans Endorsements Debates == Results ==
Results
Vote and seat summaries Synopsis of results : = open seat : = winning candidate was in previous Legislature : = incumbent had switched allegiance : = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature : = incumbency arose from byelection gain : = previously incumbent in another riding : = other incumbents renominated : = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada : = multiple candidates Turnout, winning shares and swings Changes in party vote shares : = did not field a candidate in 2022 Relative party strengths (measured by swing) : = Greens met threshold in 2022 only : = Greens met threshold in 2025 only ==Analysis==
Analysis
Analytical charts Summary Seats changing hands Of the 124 seats, 13 were open because of MPPs who chose not to stand for reelection, and voters in only 9 seats changed allegiance from the previous election in 2022. Three incumbents ousted from their parties opted to stand as Independents, but none were re-elected. There were 9 seats that changed allegiance in the election: ; PC to Liberal • AjaxDon Valley NorthEtobicoke—LakeshoreKanata—CarletonNepean ; NDP to PC • Algoma—ManitoulinHamilton Mountain ; NDP to Liberal • Toronto—St. Paul's ; NDP to Green • Kitchener Centre Of the 9 seats that changed hands: :* two were open seats where the MPPs chose to retire, :* two had already switched over in by-elections, :* two had parties that ousted their incumbents, but still failed to hold onto the seat, and :* three others saw their incumbents defeated. ==Student Vote results==
Student Vote results
Student Vote elections are mock elections that run parallel to real elections, in which students not of voting age participate. They are administered by CIVIX Canada, in partnership with Elections Ontario. Student Vote elections are for educational purposes and do not count towards the actual results. ==Opinion polls==
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