Not sure who to vote for in the Ontario election? This guide will help you decide
John Rieti | CBC News | Posted: February 23, 2025 9:00 AM | Last Updated: February 27
Meet the major candidates, review the platforms or just see how the parties would help your wallet
It's Ontario election day today.
If you're struggling to figure out your vote, this is the article for you — and we've tried to make it as straightforward as possible.
And if you're one of our regular readers who is super plugged-in to this snap winter election, this article is a good one to send to your less-engaged friends. Voter turnout was a dismal 44 per cent in the last election and 6.14 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot during last week's 3-day advance voting window, according to Elections Ontario. So, every share helps.
How do I vote?
Polling stations will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on election day. Head to Elections Ontario to figure out where your polling station is and what ID you need to bring. Also, if you're in line at 9 p.m. you will be able cast a ballot, so hang in there.
You do not need your voting card to cast a ballot.
You do need to be a Canadian citizen who resides in Ontario
There is no online voting. So if you're on vacation and haven't made arrangements to vote by mail, you're out of luck.
CBC News will have the results from all 124 ridings as soon as they start rolling in at 9 p.m. ET. You can find our results page here.
Who are the major party leaders?
PC Leader Doug Ford triggered an early election, sending us to the polls a year earlier than expected in a move that will cost some $189 million. He says his party needs an even stronger mandate to deal with the potential tariff threat from U.S. President Donald Trump, even though it already had a majority at Queen's Park for seven years.
Most voters know Ford at this point — for many, it's a love or loathe situation — and he's spent most of the campaign defending his big ideas (including a multibillion-dollar tunnel under Hwy. 401 in the GTA) and his record. Click the link below if you want a look at how Ford has fared in office:
If you want to hear directly from Ford, check out the debate CBC News hosted on Family Day. It's 90 minutes, so if you'd like only the highlights, those are right below. Note: Ford has declined a one-on-one interview with CBC News during the campaign despite multiple requests.
Here's the shorter version:
Marit Stiles leads the NDP. Born in Newfoundland, she's gone from Toronto school trustee to MPP — parents may remember her as the party's education critic during the COVID era — and has led the New Democrats since Andrea Horwath stepped down after the 2022 election.
The NDP was the Official Opposition, which means you've probably seen Stiles fighting to hold the government to account. On the campaign trail, her focus has mainly been on affordability issues.
Here's her interview with CBC Radio's Metro Morning:
Bonnie Crombie is the Ontario Liberal leader. You may remember her as Mississauga's long-time mayor, although she was a federal Liberal MP for three years before that.
She captured the Liberal leadership in December of 2023 and has tried to make health care, and getting Ontarians access to family doctors, the top election issue.
Here's her Metro Morning interview:
Mike Schreiner leads the Green Party and represents Guelph at Queen's Park. His party only holds two seats, but is a sharp critic of Ford's PCs.
Schreiner's party has also released a platform, complete with plans to tackle big issues like the province's housing crisis.
Here's his Metro Morning interview:
Do I vote for the premier or party?
There are 124 ridings in Ontario and 20 registered political parties — though the minor parties don't often run candidates in every riding. The Communist Party of Canada (Ontario), for example, are fielding seven candidates.
You'll cast your ballot for your riding's member of provincial parliament, not who you want to see as premier.
Who's running in your riding? Check with Elections Ontario if you've missed all the campaign signs have been buried in snow. You can also find more about the smaller parties and independent candidates in the link below:
Forget the leaders, what are their plans?
All four of the major parties have now released their platforms. We won't lie, they can be a bit of a slog to get through.
Lucky for you, the CBC's Andrew Foote has read them all and crunched them down into something more digestible. You can read our platform tracker here.
If you've only got four minutes, watch our Julia Knope break down the top promises from each party in the video below:
If you've got time and really want the full platform details, we applaud you. You'll find the platforms on the party websites.
Platforms make my head spin. I care about issues
Government policy isn't for everyone. But it does matter for some of the big issues facing this province. Here's a look at some of those issues and what the parties are doing about it.
- A look at some of the health care challenges we face.
- Our court system is also in a tough spot.
- Housing — specifically, building housing — continues to be a massive challenge.
- Schools are in disrepair and education workers say the system needs more support.
- Trump's tariff threat looms.
Show me the money
This election is also first time people are getting their voting cards and a $200 cheque from the government in the mail at the same time.
Affordability is a big issue, so our Mike Crawley broke down how each party's trying to woo you with promises that either save you money or straight up give you cash.
Answering your questions
Thanks for sending so many questions to Ask@cbc.ca. Here are a few that we can answer:
Maureen asks how the Liberals plan to expand mental health treatment so it's covered by OHIP. In their platform, the Liberals say they would expand the Ontario Structured Psychotherapy Program, hire more social workers and "define standads" so Ontarians can get better coverage.
Amanda asks about the NDPs stance on continuing to use nuclear power. The party's platform doesn't mention nuclear, so I don't think its against. Instead the party focuses on helping lower-income households by lowering their energy bills.
TJ asks for a comparison of the parties' plans for the Ontario Disability Support Program. The NDP, Greens and Liberals are all promising to double ODSP payments. The PCs would tie increases to the rate of inflation.
A reader in Mulmur, Ont., writes to ask if MPPs are required to face the public at local debates. Answer: No. Our Lane Harrison has this story about how many PC MPPs are dodging local debates during the campaign.
What does the polling say?
Skip this post if you want to.
A lot of people argue the media focuses too much on public opinion polls, and the result is a baked-in perception the election is already over so why bother voting at all.
This was certainly a common criticism of coverage of the 2022 election, which saw some of the lowest voter turnout in the province's history.
On the other hand, winning the election is kind of the whole point for these parties. And not reporting on polling would make it really hard to report on, you know, who's winning the race so far (spoiler alert: it's the PCs.)
Our approach at CBC News has been to aggregate the polls and report on them once a week, by relying on the expert analysis of Éric Grenier, of TheWrit.ca.
His final polling breakdown is below. But again, if you don't want to engage with polls and prefer to make up your own mind, by all means do.
The Greenbelt investigation
One reader sent an email pointing out it's probably important to note the RCMP is investigating PC Leader Doug Ford's government for its plan to open the Greenbelt for housing development, which it later backtracked on.
We asked the RCMP for an update on the investigation that launched in 2023 on Monday. Here's the response we received by email:
"Be assured that the RCMP is conducting a thorough investigation. That investigation is ongoing. To protect the integrity of the investigation, we cannot provide information at this time. The RCMP must ensure that criminal investigations are not compromised by sharing information publicly."
Ford has denied any wrongdoing by himself or anyone in his office on the Greenbelt file.
All four major party leaders committed to not building housing in the Greenbelt during our recent debate. Watch that moment below: