TORONTO 鈥� Two senior government sources say Premier Doug Ford plans to call a snap election next Wednesday and send Ontarians to the polls on Feb. 27.
The Canadian Press is not naming them so they can speak candidly about internal government deliberations.
The call is more than a year before the next fixed election date in June 2026.
Ford has said that he needs a new mandate in order to deal with four years of a Donald Trump presidency in the United States.
Ford has said he expects Trump's tariffs to hit Ontario particularly hard, specifically the auto sector, and believes the province would need to spend tens of billions of dollars in order to keep the economy and hundreds of thousands of jobs afloat.
Opposition parties have said an early election is not necessary because they would support stimulus spending, and Ford - as premier with a majority government - already has a mandate to protect Ontario's interests.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2025.
Liam Casey and Allison Jones, The Canadian Press
