Ontario voters head to the polls for election day after snap winter campaign

TORONTO — Ontario’s political party leaders have criss-crossed the province, released their platforms and made their pitches over the past month — now it’s decision day for voters.

Polls are open until 9 p.m. ET on Thursday for what has shaped up in parts of the province to be a snowy and slushy election day, capping off the first winter campaign since 1981. The unusual campaign has seen candidates battle icy stairs, brutal snowstorms and frigid temperatures.

Most Ontario elections also haven’t included a party leader leaving the province during the campaign, but Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford made two trips to Washington, D.C. — as premier — to push back against threatened American tariffs.

Ford called the snap, $189-million election saying he needs a new mandate to deal with four years of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has made repeated threats to put tariffs on Canadian goods that could greatly harm Ontario’s economy.

The other three major party leaders say this election was unnecessary, in part because Ford already had a large majority government with well over a year left in its mandate.

Ford made tariffs and the economy the focal point of his campaign, while Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie centred her campaign on a promise to connect every Ontarian to a family doctor, and NDP Leader Marit Stiles spoke a lot about health care and affordability.

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner was the first to release a fully costed platform, with many promises on various provincial policy issues including building more housing, protecting farmland and improving affordability.

The party is hoping to not only hold onto Schreiner’s seat in Guelph and another in Kitchener Centre they picked up in a 2023 byelection, but also to add a third in Parry Sound-Muskoka — a seat the Greens have long had their eye on and where they came second in 2022.

Turnout was widely expected to be a concern on election day, with several weather advisories in effect in parts of the province on Thursday morning.

Light snow was expected to turn to possible showers in Toronto while Ottawa and other parts of eastern Ontario were anticipating five to 10 centimetres of snow. A snowfall warning was issued for Thunder Bay and areas close to the Manitoba border, where Environment Canada called for 15 centimetres of snow starting Thursday night and into Friday. Some areas could see heavier snow.

Just before the start of the election campaign, Ford said he needed “the largest mandate in Ontario’s history,” but he ended the campaign with a slightly different tune.

“I don’t look at the numbers,” Ford said Wednesday morning in Windsor. “I just want to win.”

The Progressive Conservatives won 83 out of 124 seats in the 2022 election, with the NDP capturing 31, the Liberals getting eight and the Greens snagging one. At dissolution, the Tories had 79 seats, the NDP had 28, the Liberals had nine and the Greens had two. There were six independents.

If Ford’s government wins re-election, it will be his third term as premier, and when asked if he would eventually seek a fourth term, he said he wants to serve even longer than Hazel McCallion was Mississauga mayor. She won 12 successive elections.

“Man, I want to be premier forever,” Ford said.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles headed into election day saying her goal is to flip Progressive Conservative seats, but most of her campaign stops on the final day were in NDP-held ridings.

“The sun is out,” she said Wednesday, with a nod to the challenging conditions through the winter campaign.

“It is shining today, right? The clouds have parted. This is the opportunity we have, and I know that Ontarians want to see that change. So please, everybody, get out there. Vote. Vote for change. Vote for your values. Vote to elect New Democrats in every riding across this province.”

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie, meanwhile, spent time campaigning in Oakville — a riding the Liberals hope to take from the Tories — and canvassing in Mississauga.

Crombie was mayor of Mississauga for three terms and is hoping that her record and name recognition there turn all six ridings in the city from blue to red.

But the Progressive Conservatives are fighting hard to prevent that, paying particular attention to Mississauga East-Cooksville, where Crombie is running, in the hopes of keeping her out of the legislature.

Several candidates who have served as cabinet ministers have been out in the riding campaigning for PC candidate Silvia Gualtieri, who is also the mother-in-law of former Progressive Conservative leader and current Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown.

Ford made his final campaign stop on Wednesday in the riding, meeting with the Polish community. It is a community to which Crombie belongs, but she brushed off any significance of the visit.

“I feel the wind in our sails,” she said in Oakville. “I’m feeling a lot of momentum in Oakville, in Mississauga, and across the province of Ontario. Thank you for the question. Please vote for change and please vote Ontario Liberal.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2025.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press