Wikipedia

Ontario general elections

Ontario general election results
YearShare of seatsTotal
1867



82
1871



82
1875



88[a]
1879



88
1883



88
1886



90
1890



91[b]
1894




94[c]
1898



94
1902



98
1905



98
1908




106
1911




106
1914




111[d]
1919



111
1923



111
1926



112[e]
1929



112[f]
193490 [g]
1937



90[h]
1943



90[i]
1945




90
1948




90
1951




90
1955




98
1959




98
1963




108
1967




117
1971




117
1975




125
1977




125
1981




125
1985




125
1987




130
1990




130
1995



130
1999




103
2003




103
2007




107
2011




107
2014




107
2018



124
2022



124
2025



124

Ontario general elections (more commonly and colloquially referred to as Ontario provincial elections) are held for the purpose of determining the government of the province of Ontario, the most populous subnational jurisdiction in Canada through democratic means. A general election was most recently held in February 2025, through which the incumbent Progressive Conservative government led by Premier Doug Ford was re-elected with its third majority mandate.

Like other Westminster-style parliamentary governments, Ontario voters exercise their democratic franchise indirectly by electing local representatives, known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs), to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, via plurality voting (or the "first-past-the-post" system). All Canadian citizens age eighteen or above who resides in Ontario are entitled to vote in elections held for the electoral district they reside in. Post secondary students temporary residing elsewhere for school may opt to exercise that right in the electoral district of their temporary residence. Former residents of Ontario may also be entitle to vote if they meet specific criteria.[1]

The head of Ontario's government, the Premier of Ontario, is typically the MPP that leads political party with the most seats in the legislature. They are normally "elected" by virtue of being the leader of the political party with a majority of the seats in the legislature, or had secured the needed support from other parties to command the confidence of the legislature.

The province is divided into electoral districts, colloquially known as ridings, primarily but not exclusively, by population distribution. Since the 1926 election, each electoral district elect one MPP to occupy a "seat" at Queen's Park, the moniker for the legislature due to its physical location in said park in downtown Toronto. There are currently 124 seats at Queen's Park. The number of seats has varied over time, from 82 for the first election in 1867, to a high of 130 in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Ontario provincial elections are held on Thursdays.[2] Section 4 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom requires that provincial general election be held no later than five years after the previous election. Since the end of World War II, elections are usually held every three or four years. Fixed date election law adopted in 2003 further regulate timing of Ontario general election[3] until they were repealed in late 2025.[4][5]

History

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Before Confederation

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Since its formal formation at Canadian confederation in 1867, Ontario has held forty-four general elections. Elections for local legislative assembly members however started a few decades earlier. Soon after Upper Canada was made a separate British Colony from the British Province of Quebec, the first election for the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was held in 1792. Upper Canada held thirteen elections between 1792 and 1836 before being merged back with Lower Canada to form the Province of Canada in 1840. Eight elections were held between 1841 and 1863 to elect members to its Legislative Assembly.

However, some of the earlier elections were not determinant of the colonial government of the day. The first election that meaningfully determine the executive leadership of the colonial government was held in 1848, when the principle of responsible government was formally implemented in the Province of Canada.

Evolution of election procedure and eligibility

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Ontario held its first provincial election, then called "local election", in conjunction with Canada's first federal election, then called "dominion election" in late summer of 1867. The election was held on different days in different districts over August and September. Balloting was not done in secret, but was recorded orally in front of election officials and representatives of candidates. Candidates were allowed to run for and to hold seats in the Canadian Parliament and the Ontario legislature simultaneously, or to contest multiple districts in the same election. A number of prominent political figures were members of both the first Canadian parliament and the first Ontario parliament. Though only one person, Liberal Premier Edward Blake, had ever been returned to the legislature by more than one district in a Ontario general election.[m]

To be eligible to vote, one must be a male British subject twenty-one or older. A voter must meet a property qualification of being an owner or tenant with a property valued with a certain minimum value[6][7][8][n], and a urban voter must further meet an annual income requirement. An estimated 16.5% of Ontario 1.6 million residents were eligible to vote in the first election.[8]

Election laws received a great deal of attention from Ontario political leaders in the early years of the provinces, and improvements were made rapidly. By the second election held in 1871, elections in all electoral district were held on the same day. By the third election held in 1875, Ontario elections were conducted with secret ballots.

By the end of 1872, it was no longer possible for an individual to be an MP and MPP simultaneously, though one could be a candidate in multiple electoral districts for many more decades. While few people have done so in the twentieth century, it remained technically possible and lawful for an individual to stand for elections in multiple districts in Ontario until 1984.[10]

Voting franchise in Ontario elections was expanded to include women in 1917.[11] Their eligibility to stand for office in the subsequent election however remained uncertain in absence of specific legislation until Edwards v Canada (AG) (the Persons Case launch by the Famous Five) was decided in 1929. In the final legislative sittings month prior to the 1919 election, the Women's Assembly Qualification Act, 1919 was enacted to specifically state that women were qualified to be elected to the Legislative Assembly.[12] Liberal Henrietta Bundy Independent Justerna Sears contested that year's election, but it would be more than 20 years later when a was elected to the legislature.

List of general elections

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Year Total
seats		 Premier following election Conservative[o] Liberal[p] NDP / CCF[q] UFO/Labour
Progressive[r]
Green (2000s)		 Ind. Other Note
MPPsV's % MPPsV's % MPPsV's % MPPsV's % MPPsPartyMPPs
186782John Sandfield Macdonald 4150.34148.8 ----
1871Edward Blake 3946.74352.3 ----
187588 Sir Oliver Mowat 3748.35148.1 ----
1879 3148.75748.1 ----
1883 3747.55049.4 --1.51- [s]
188690 3247.15748.4 --3.91- [t]
189091 3647.95551.1 ---- [u]
189494 3241.05953.2| --0.5-Patrons3 [v]
1898Arthur Hardy 4348.15147.3 ----
190298 Sir George Ross 4850.05047.5 ----
1905 Sir James Whitney 7053.12846.1 ----
1908106 8654.71940.0 -11.7--[w]
1911 8357.32238.5 -12.4--[w]
1914111 8455.32638.6 -11.3--[w]
1919 Ernest Drury 2534.62927.3- 5633.1-Soldier1 [x]
1923 Howard Ferguson 7549.81420.3 -2126.91- [y]
1926112 7457.61924.5 -159.4-Lib-Prog4 [z][aa]
1929 9258.81432.8 -65.8-- [ab]
193490 Mitchell Hepburn 1739.86950.4 17.021.61- [ac]
1937 2340.06651.9 -5.312.4-- [ad]
1943George A. Drew 3835.71631.2 3431.721.1-- [ae]
1945 6644.21429.8 822.422.8--[ae]
1948 5341.51429.8 2127.021.0--[ae]
1951Leslie Frost 7944.3831.5 219.110.7--[ae]
195598 8448.51133.3 316.5-1.2--
1959 7146.32236.6 516.7---
1963108John Robarts 7748.92435.1 715.5---
1967117 6942.12831.7 2025.9---
1971Bill Davis 7844.52027.8 1927.1---
1975125 5136.13634.3 3828.9---
1977 5839.63431.4 3328.2---
1981 7044.43433.7 2121.2---
1985 David Peterson 5236.94837.92523.8 ---[af]
1987130 1624.79547.3 1925.7---
1990Bob Rae 2023.53632.47437.6 ---
1995Mike Harris 8245.03031.1 1720.5-1-
1999103 5945.13539.9 912.6---
2003 Dalton McGuinty 2434.77246.4 714.7-2.8--
2007107 2631.67142.3 1016.8-8.0--
2011 3735.45337.6 1722.6-2.9--
2014Kathleen Wynne 2831.25838.7 2123.714.6--
2018124 Doug Ford 7640.5 719.64033.614.6--
2022 8340.8 823.93123.716.01-
2025 8043.0 1430.02718.624.81-
YearTotal
seats		 Premier following election MPPsV's % MPPsV's % MPPsV's % MPPsV's % MPPsPartyMPPs Note
Other
Progressive
Conservative		 Liberal NDP * Green * Ind.
  1. ↑ Liberal inclusive of 1 seat initially declared for Conservative. Elgin West Conservative Malcolm Munroe's election was contested, and a pre-trial scrutiny of the votes was ordered. Following the scrutiny, Munroe abandoned his defence and did not contest being unseated. That took place before parliament convened. Liberal incumbent Thomas Hodgins was declared elected in his stead.
  2. ↑ The two parties each had two members elected that were supported by the Equal Rights Association.
  3. ↑ Conservative inclusive of 2 members endorsed by the Patrons of Industry, 5 members endorsed by the Protestant Protective Association (PPA) and 1 Independent Conservative also endorsed by the PPA. Liberal inclusive of 12 members endorsed by Patrons and 2 members endorsed by PPA. Other consists of 3 members elected solely under Patrons banner and 1 solely under PPA banner.
  4. ↑ Liberal inclusive of 1 member who campaigned as a Liberal-Prohibitionist
  5. ↑ Liberal inclusive of 2 who campaigned as Liberal-Prohibitionist, and 2 who were endorsed by the Progressive Party and campaigned as Liberal-Progressives. Progressive inclusive of 1 who campaign ed as Farmer-Prohibitionist, and 2 who were endorsed by the Liberal Party and campaigned as Liberal-Progressives, and 3 who sat as a separate United Farmers caucus.
  6. ↑ Progressive inclusive of 1 who endorsed by the Liberal Party and campaigned as Liberal-Progressives, and 1 who camapaigned as United Farmers.
  7. ↑ Progressive consists of 4 who ran as Liberal-Progressive and 1 who ran as United Farmers.
  8. ↑ Liberal inclusive of 1 Independent Liberal; Progressive consists of 3 who ran as Liberal-Progressive and 1 who ran as United Farmers.
  9. ↑ Liberal inclusive of former leader Mitch Hepburn who ran as an Independent Liberal.
  10. ↑ Inclusive of members elected as Independent Libearl, Liberal-Labour
  11. ↑ Inclusive of members elected as Independent Progressive
  12. ↑ Inclusive of members elected as Independent Conservative
  13. ↑ In the 1871 election, Edward Blake was re-elected in Bruce South, while being elected by acclamation in Durham West, the district for which he was the MP. The double return weakened Blake's hand during his ultimately successful bid in ousting incumbent Premier John Sandfield Macdonald.
  14. ↑ The value of property required to be eligible to vote for a member of parliament is listed as $200 in an urban area and $100 in a rural area by Elections Canada's A History of the Vote in Canada, however that number provided in the publication is a general amount for the period from 1867 to 1885 before federal law was passed governing franchise.[9]
  15. ↑ Inclusive of seats/votes won by candidates contested as Liberal-Conservative (1930s or earlier) and Independent Conservatives; tally for Progressive Conservatives from 1943 onward
  16. ↑ Inclusive of seats/votes won by candidates contested as Independent Liberals
  17. ↑ 1934 to 1959 figures are for CCF (Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Ontario Section)); 1961 onward are for NDP. Labour Party votes and seats are not included in this column after 1926.
  18. ↑ Figures for 1955 or earlier inclusive of all seats/votes won by candidates of Labour Party, United Farmers, Progressive Party, Labour-Progressive/Communist Party, Soldiers and other affiliated allies. Candidates contested as Progressive-Liberal or Liberal-Progessive are each specifically assigned based on context.
  19. ↑ Independent elected, Mr. William Lees of South Lanark, won as an Ind. Conservative in 1879 and as a Conservative in 1886.
  20. ↑ Independent elected was Samuel Armstrong, the inaugural member for Parry Sound
  21. ↑ Conservative and Liberal results included their candidates who were campaigning with the endorsements of Equal Rights Party
  22. ↑ Conservative and Liberal results included their candidates who were endorsed by Patrons of Industry or Protestant Protective Association (PPA) and campaigned under joint banners. Three members were elected solely under Patrons banner.
  23. 1 2 3 One Labour member, and votes for all Labour and Progressive candidates recorded under UFO.
  24. ↑ 56 elected members under UFO/Prog. consisted of 45 United Farmers and 11 Labour members
  25. ↑ 21 elected members under UFO/Prog. consisted of 17 United Farmers and 4 Labour members. The one independent defeated the official Liberal candidate, sat with the Liberals, and ran as an Independent Liberals in subsequent elections.
  26. ↑ 15 elected members under UFO/Prog. consisted of 11 Progressive, 3 United Farmers and 1 Labour members. The one Labour members joined the Conservative soon after parliament convened.
  27. ↑ Liberal-Progressive was neither a party nor a caucus, but a campaign label for candidates jointly endorsed by local associations of the two parties. Of the four elected, two were Liberals, and two were Progressives, and they sat with their caucus accordingly. See 17th Parliament for more info.
  28. ↑ 6 elected members under UFO/Prog. consisted of 4 Progressive, 1 United Farmers and 1 Labour members.
  29. ↑ 2 elected members under UFO/Prog. consisted of 1 United Farmers and 1 Labour members. Other former Progressive caucus members who contested election did so as Liberal-Progressive candidates, and some joined the Liberal cabinet immediately upon its formation.
  30. ↑ 1 elected member under UFO/Prog. was UFO member Farquhar Oliver, who formally joined the Liberal Party and the Hepburn ministry in 1941.
  31. 1 2 3 4 Elected member under UFO/Prog. were members of the Labour-Progressive Party, a successor organization of the Communist Party after it was bamnned during the war.
  32. ↑ The Progressive Conservative Party won the most seats but was unable to secure the confidence of the new legislature. The Liberal Party and the NDP entered into a 2-year supply and confidence agreement, enabling the Liberals to form government.

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Elections Act, RSO 1990, c. 35, s. 15 (5)
  2. ↑ Elections Act, RSO 1990, c. 35, s. 9.1 (5)
  3. ↑ Election Statute Law Amendment Act, 2016, S.O. 2016, c. 33 - Bill 45
  4. ↑ News Release -- Ontario Strengthening Provincial Electoral Processes
  5. ↑ CBC News -- Ontario to scrap fixed election dates, raise party donation limit to $5K under new bill
  6. ↑ Garner 1969, p. 116.
  7. ↑ An Act Respecting Municipal Institutions of Upper Canada, 1866, c. LI, s. 81
  8. 1 2 LeDuc et al. 2010, p. 63.
  9. ↑ Elections Canada 2021, p. 67.
  10. ↑ Election Act, SO 1984, c. 54, s. 27(3)
  11. ↑ Ontario Franchise Act, 1917, 7 George V 1917, c. 5, s. 4(1)
  12. ↑ The Women's Assembly Qualification Act, 1919, 9 George V 1919, c. 8, s. 3

Notes

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