Ontario spent a record $112 million on taxpayer-funded advertising last year, with the province’s auditor saying 38 per cent of the campaigns were meant to leave people with a “positive impression” of Premier Doug Ford’s government and came ahead of the snap election.
Auditor General Shelley Spence outlines the spending in her latest annual report, noting that it surpasses the previous record for government ad buys the year before by $8.4 million. The deep dive into the spending looks at the 2024-25 fiscal year, which includes the months leading up to the last provincial election that saw the Progressive Conservatives win a third-straight majority government.
“There tends to be a little bit more government advertising right before an election,” Spence said. “And this time was no different.”
The auditor flagged nine campaigns totaling $43 million — or 38 per cent of the province’s total ad budget — where the primary objective was to foster a “positive impression” of the government or where the government did not provide evidence to back up some of their claims.
Spence said the goal of all taxpayer-funded advertising should be to inform Ontarians.
“When I look at value-for-money for those ads, we look at, is this telling me anything I didn’t know as a person in Ontario,” she said.
“Some of the ads are quite promotional for the governing party. They aren’t really providing really good, solid information to the citizens of Ontario.”
The auditor flagged concerns with multi-million dollar campaigns the government ran, such as its $19.1 million “It’s Happening Here” advertisements and a “Highways and Infrastructure” campaign that cost nearly $8 million.
Spence said in the “It’s Happening Here” campaign, the ad is designed to improve the impression Ontarians have of the current state of the province. The spots boast of higher wages and levels of employment in the province, “the subtext of which promotes the governing party,” her report notes.
In the “Highways and Infrastructure” ads, Spence found that government claims the projects would reduce gridlock did not “provide context or evidence” to back up their claims. She said the campaign was meant to foster a positive impression of the government.
Environment Minister Todd McCarthy defended the province’s advertising spend, saying it was needed to inform Ontarians and, in some instances, push back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
“That’s important to have that educational piece and then to tell our story globally,” he said. “To the United States, we’ve educated the American public with our ads. That influences lawmakers. It influences the citizens, our friends, our allies in the United States, south of the border.”
NDP Leader Marit Stiles called the ad spending “taxpayer-funded propaganda” and questioned the Ford government’s priorities.
“These are taxpayer dollars,” Stiles said. “These are your hard-earned dollars spent on making Doug Ford look good while your life just gets harder.”
Liberal parliamentary leader John Fraser slammed the ad spending, noting that it doesn’t reflect the controversial $75 million campaign the Ford government ran earlier this year featuring former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Trump cited those TV spots as the reason he called off trade talks between the U.S. and Canada.
Spending on that campaign wasn’t in the fiscal year captured by this auditor’s report. Taxpayers will have to wait until next year for those spending details, even as they see the political fallout in real-time, Fraser said.
“Money was spent on a political stunt that blew up negotiations,” he said. “And it’s not just that people are paying money for that ad. It’s Ontarians who are going to pay with their jobs.”
But one of the largest campaigns of the 2024-25 fiscal year was an anti-tariff advertisement targeting U.S. audiences. Ontario spent $40 million on a series of primetime television spots that focused on the benefits of the province’s partnership with the U.S.
According to figures in the auditor’s report, the Ford government has spent approximately $452 million on taxpayer-funded advertising since it came to power in 2018.
Prior to 2015, government ads considered partisan were banned if the intent was to foster a positive impression of the government or a negative impression of its critics. But the then-Liberal government amended the rules and, despite promising during the 2018 election to undo the changes, the Progressive Conservatives decided to stick with them after forming government.
Spence renewed her calls for reform once again in her annual report.
“We continue to recommend that the previous versions of the Government Advertising Act be reinstated,” she said.
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The auditor’s report comes months after mandatory election spending disclosures showed that Ford’s PCs outspent their rivals by more than $6 million during the writ period.
The PC Party spent $15.3 million on its campaign, running well ahead of the Ontario Liberals, which spent $8.9 million, the Ontario New Democrats, which spent $8.5 million, and the Green Party, which spent $1.4 million.
Advertising was the largest single campaign expense for all of Ontario’s major political parties during the election. The financial statements show the Tories spent the most on advertising during the campaign, $7.6 million, followed closely by the Liberals at nearly $6.6 million, while NDP spent $5.4 million. The Green Party spent $750,000.
Opposition parties have complained the use of government advertising gave the Tories an unfair advantage in the election.
