The 2014 Ontario general election was held on June 12, 2014, to elect the members of the

41st Parliament of Ontario The 41st Legislative Assembly of Ontario was a legislature of the government of the province of Ontario, Canada. The membership was set by the 2014 Ontario general election. The 41st parliament of Ontario was dissolved on May 8, 2018. It was con ...

. The

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

won a majority of seats in the

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

, allowing its leader,

Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( ; born May 21, 1953) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), member of provinci ...

, to continue as

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

, moving from a

minority Minority may refer to: Politics * Minority government, formed when a political party does not have a majority of overall seats in parliament * Minority leader, in American politics, the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative b ...

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. Such a government can consist of one party that holds a majority on its own, or be a coalition government of multi ...

. This was the Liberals' fourth consecutive win since

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and an improvement from their performance in the 2011 election. The Progressive Conservatives under

Tim Hudak Timothy Patrick Hudak (born November 1, 1967) is a former Canadian politician who led the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Ontario Progressive Conservative (PC) Party from 2009 to 2014. Hudak was a Member of Provincial Parliament (Can ...

were returned to the official opposition; following the election loss, Hudak announced his resignation as Progressive Conservative leader. The

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

under

Andrea Horwath Andrea Lynn Horwath (; born October 24, 1962) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 58th List of mayors of Hamilton, Ontario, mayor of Hamilton since 2022. Horwath served as the leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) from 200 ...

remained in third place, albeit with an improved share of the popular vote. The election was called on May 2, 2014, by

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

David Onley David Charles Onley (June 12, 1950 – January 14, 2023) was a Canadian broadcaster and writer who served as the 28th lieutenant governor of Ontario from 2007 until 2014. Prior to his viceregal appointment, Onley was a television journalist. ...

, upon the recommendation of Wynne following the announcement that the NDP, whose support was critical to the survival of the Liberals' minority government in the Legislative Assembly, would vote against the Liberals' proposed budget. With the election, Wynne became the first woman and the first openly gay person to lead a party to a majority victory in an Ontario general election.

Timeline (2011–2014)

Seat changes

Other developments

Campaign

Contests

Incumbents not running for reelection

Results

, - ! rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left;", Party ! rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;", Party leader ! rowspan="2", Candidates ! colspan="4", Seats ! colspan="3", Popular vote , - bgcolor=CCCCCC !

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

! Dissol. !2014 !Change !# !% !Change , style="text-align:left;",

, 107 , 53 , 48 , 58 , 5 , 1,863,974 , 38.67% , 1.02% , style="text-align:left;",

, 107 , 37 , 37 , 28 , 9 , 1,505,436 , 31.23% , 4.22% , style="text-align:left;",

, 107 , 17 , 21 , 21 , 4 , 1,144,822 , 23.75% , 1.01% , style="text-align:left;",

Mike Schreiner Michael John Schreiner ( ; born 9 June 1969) is a Canadian politician who has served as the leader of the Green Party of Ontario since 2009. Schreiner sits as a Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), member of Provincial Parliament (MPP), ...

, 107 , – , – , – , – , 235,911 , 4.89% , 1.97% , style="text-align:left;", Allen Small , 74 , – , – , – , – , 37,696 , 0.78% , 0.33% , style="text-align:left;", Paul McKeever , 42 , – , – , – , – , 12,381 , 0.26% , 0.05% , style="text-align:left;", Eric Ames (interim) , 6 , – , – , – , – , 4,288 , 0.09% , 0.13% , style="text-align:left;", Greg Vezina , 8 , – , – , – , – , 4,247 , 0.09% , – , style="text-align:left;", , 14 , – , – , – , – , 3,854 , 0.08% , – , style="text-align:left;",

Elizabeth Rowley Elizabeth Rowley ( ; born ) is a Canadian writer and political activist currently serving as the leader of the Communist Party of Canada. She was previously a school trustee in the former Toronto borough of East York. Before becoming leader of ...

, 11 , – , – , – , – , 2,290 , 0.05% , 0.02% , style="text-align:left;", Bahman Yazdanfar , 4 , – , – , – , – , 1,293 , 0.03% , 0.03% , style="text-align:left;", Paul Figueiras , 5 , – , – , – , – , 907 , 0.02% , 0.01% , style="text-align:left;", Kevin Clarke , 5 , – , – , – , – , 894 , 0.02% , 0.01% , style="text-align:left;", Edward Deibel , 3 , – , – , – , – , 892 , 0.02% , – , style="text-align:left;", Danish Ahmed , 3 , – , – , – , – , 709 , 0.01% , 0.01% , style="text-align:left;", ''vacant'' , 2 , – , – , – , – , 551 , 0.01% , – , style="text-align:left;", Bob Yaciuk , 2 , – , – , – , – , 397 , 0.01% , – , style="text-align:left;", Dennis Valenta , 2 , – , – , – , – , 366 , 0.01% , – , style="text-align:left;", Michael Laxer , 2 , – , – , – , – , 361 , 0.01% , – , style="text-align:left;", Yuri Duboisky , 2 , – , – , – , – , 335 , 0.01% , – , style="text-align:left;",

John Turmel John C. Turmel (born February 22, 1951) is a perennial candidate for election in Canada, and according to the ''Guinness World Records'' holds the records for the most elections contested and for the most elections lost, having contested 112 el ...

, 3 , – , – , – , – , 194 , – , – , style="text-align:left;" colspan="7", Declined Vote , align="right", 31,399 , align="right", 0.64% , align="right", +0.59% , style="text-align:left;" colspan="4", Vacant , 1 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="3", Total , style="text-align:right;", 616 , style="text-align:right;", 107 , style="text-align:right;", 107 , style="text-align:right;", 107 , , style="text-align:right;", 4,820,547 , ,

Synopsis of results

: = open seat : = turnout is above provincial average : = incumbent re-elected : = incumbency arose from byelection gain

Comparative analysis for ridings (2014 vs 2011)

Maps

File:Ontario general election, 2014 results by riding - Liberal Party strength.svg, Support for Liberal Party candidates by riding File:Ontario Election 2014 - Progressive Conservative Party Vote.svg, Support for Conservative Party candidates by riding File:Ontario general election 2014 - New Democratic Party Strength.svg, Support for New Democratic Party candidates by riding File:Ontario general election, 2014 results by riding - Green Party strength.svg, Support for Green Party candidates by riding File:Ontario general election, 2014 results by riding - Libertarian Party strength.svg, Support for Libertarian Party candidates by riding

Summary analysis

MitchellFieldCommunityCentre2014Election

Pairing off the top three parties, swings were calculated to be: :* PC to Liberal: 2.6% :* PC to NDP: 2.6% :* Liberal to NDP: insignificant

Regional analysis

Principal races

Significant results among independent and minor party candidates

Those candidates not belonging to a major party, receiving more than 1,000 votes in the election, are listed below:

Seats changing hands

There were 17 seats that changed allegiance from the 2011 election. ;PC to Liberal *

Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...

* Burlington *

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

* Halton * Newmarket—Aurora * Northumberland—Quinte West ;PC to NDP * Kitchener—Waterloo *

Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...

;NDP to Liberal * Beaches—East York *

Davenport Davenport may refer to: Places Australia *Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality *Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia **Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta **District Council of Davenport, former local govern ...

* Trinity—Spadina ;Liberal to NDP * London West *

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario ** Sudbury (federal electoral district) ** Sudbury (provincial electoral district) ** Sudbury Airport ** Sudbury Basin, a meteorite impact cra ...

* Windsor—Tecumseh * Windsor West

Marginal seats

The following seats had a margin of victory of less than 5 percentage points in the election:

Opinion polls

Voting intention polls released throughout the election campaign were distinctly inconsistent and contradictory, as shown in the graph and table below. During much of the campaign, different pollsters persistently disagreed, frequently by important margins, on whether the Liberals or Progressive Conservatives held the lead, though by the final days most polls showed the Liberals marginally to comfortably ahead. Still, polls completed on the last day of the campaign by

Ipsos Reid Ipsos Reid was the name of a Canada-based research company, still existing under the name Ipsos as the Canadian arm of the global Ipsos Group. Founded in Winnipeg in 1979 as the Angus Reid Group, the company expanded across the country and was pu ...

and EKOS showed vastly divergent support for the NDP, at 30% and 19%, respectively. Also of note, although four different pollsters released results among "likely voters" alongside their results among all eligible voters in an effort to better predict the outcome of the election based on expected voter turnout, in all cases the former proved to be overall poorer predictors than the latter.

General opinion polls

Polling during the 2014 Ontario election campaign

Innovative Research states, for ''Province Wide Online Survey'', "Margin of error not applicable, online samples not random."
Data shown above for campaign-period polls are top-line results, typically among all eligible voters. However, certain pollsters additionally report results among "likely voters" in an effort to better predict the actual outcome of the election. When available, these alternative results are shown in the following table:

Likely voters

Pre-campaign period

Issues

Economy

Unemployment in Ontario was a major political issue. In particular, the manufacturing sector had shrunk by about 30% or more than 300,000 jobs since 2002. The

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC; ), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party, or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada. During its uninterr ...

proposed a plan called "Million Jobs Plan", outlining their strategy for job creation and economic growth. By reducing tax, government services, energy costs and regulations the PCs projected to create a cumulative 507,488 jobs over eight years. The plan also called for the reduction of 100,000 civil service jobs. Economists and critics noted fundamental mathematical errors with the PCs' projections. They held, even if the PCs' own data were correctly tabulated, only 50,000 extra jobs would be created (in addition to the 500,000 that would be created anyway without any policy change). The

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; , PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by Bonnie Crombie since December 2023. The party espouses the principles of liberalism, with their rival the Progressive Co ...

proposed the 10 year "Jobs and Investment Plan", which proposed infrastructure investments as their main strategy to create jobs. The

Ontario New Democratic Party The Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP; , NPD) is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is Ontario’s provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. The ...

platform called for targeted tax credits and incentives to encourage job creation. The

Green Party of Ontario The Green Party of Ontario (GPO; ) is a political party in Ontario, Canada. The party is led by Mike Schreiner. Schreiner was elected as Member of Provincial Parliament (Canada), MPP for the riding of Guelph (provincial electoral district), Gue ...

policy proposal stated that it would "focus on your job by lowering payroll taxes for small businesses" as well as investing in transit infrastructure and subsidising energy-saving home improvements. The Ontario Libertarian Party called for mass privatization, lower taxes and general deregulation, eliminating many business requirements such as permitting, insurance and certification that they considered to be interfering with job creation. Their platform called for government spending to be limited to "only core functions of government; defending life, liberty, and property" and as such would have eliminated industry subsidies or incentives of any kind, particularly in the energy sector. The

Communist Party of Ontario The Communist Party of Canada (Ontario) () is the Ontario provincial wing of the Communist Party of Canada. Using the name Labor-Progressive Party from 1943 until 1959, the group won two seats in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario: A.A. MacLe ...

called for raising the minimum wage to $19 as well as introducing a guaranteed annual income, nationalization of the domestic steel industry, and investments in public housing, infrastructure and social programs, while shifting taxes from lower to higher income-earners and businesses.

Transit

Due to rapid urban and suburban expansion in southern Ontario,

traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s, resulting in m ...

had been increasing greatly. A 2013 study by the CD Howe Institute determined that it was costing $7.5-11 billion annually for the economy of Toronto alone. The Liberals promised $29 billion in infrastructure spending, $15 billion of which would go towards building new transit (mostly

LRT Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

) lines in the GTHA, based on the outline of

Metrolinx Metrolinx is a transportation agency in Ontario, Canada. It is a Crown agency that manages and integrates road and public transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). It was created as the Greater Toronto Transportation Au ...

The Big Move The Big Move is the regional transportation plan (RTP) published by Metrolinx for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) in Ontario, Canada. It makes specific recommendations for transit projects, resulting from seven " green papers" an ...

plan, as well as an LRT in Ottawa.Ontario parties' transit plans reveal politics and paralysis
. ''CBC''. 2014-05-28 A high-speed rail line crossing the province from the southeast into Quebec was also planned. The PCs promised to finish building the

Eglinton Crosstown Line 5 Eglinton, also known as the Eglinton Crosstown LRT or the Crosstown, is a light rail transit line that is under construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that will be part of the Toronto subway system. Owned by Metrolinx and operated by t ...

, but cancel all the other planned lines, and instead focus on quickly expanding GO service. The NDP plan was similar to the Liberal plan, but included an extra $1 billion to get certain projects built faster.

Endorsements

Media endorsements

The following media outlets made endorsements during the campaign: Liberal * ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' * ''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...

'' * ''

Torontoist ''Daily Hive'', formerly known as ''Vancity Buzz'', is a Canadian online newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It began digital publishing in 2008 and became Western Canada's largest online-only publication by 2016. In September 2022 ...

'' Progressive Conservative * ''

Burlington Post The ''Burlington Post'' is the local newspaper of Burlington, Ontario, Canada. The paper covers local news and issues, as well as sports, entertainment, the arts, business, and classified sections. The ''Post'' is distributed once a week, on Th ...

'', ''The Flamborough Review'', ''Oakville Beaver'' * ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' * ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'' * ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'' * ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices are located at Pos ...

'', ''

Ottawa Sun The ''Ottawa Sun'' is a daily newspaper in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is published by Sun Media. It began publication in 1983 as the ''Ottawa Sunday Herald'', until it was acquired by (then) Toronto Sun Publishing Corporation in 1988. In April 2 ...

'' * ''

Windsor Star The ''Windsor Star'' is a daily newspaper based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Postmedia Network, it is published Tuesdays through Saturdays. History The paper began as the weekly ''Windsor Record'' in 1888, changing its name to the ''Bor ...

'' New Democratic Party * ''

Sudbury Star ''The Sudbury Star'' is a Canadian daily regional newspaper published in Sudbury, Ontario. It is owned by the media company, Postmedia. It is the largest daily paper in Northeastern Ontario by circulation. History The ''Sudbury Star'' began ...

'' Explicitly not endorsing any party * ''

Hamilton Spectator ''The Hamilton Spectator'', founded in 1846, is a newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. One of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation, ''The Hamilton Spectator'' is owned by Torstar. ...

'' *'' The Kitchener-Waterloo Record''

Public figure endorsements

Deputy Mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments. Duties and functions Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...

of Toronto, and acting mayor,

Norm Kelly Norman Kelly (born August 11, 1941) is a retired Canadian politician. He represented Ward 22 Scarborough—Agincourt, Ward 40 Scarborough—Agincourt from 2000 to 2018 and served as Deputy Mayor of Toronto, deputy mayor of Toronto from 2013 to ...

endorsed Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne. *Mayor of

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

Hazel McCallion Hazel Mary Muriel McCallion (; February 14, 1921 – January 29, 2023) was a Canadian politician who served as the fifth mayor of Mississauga. First elected in November 1978, McCallion was mayor for 36 years until her retirement in 2014, makin ...

endorsed Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne. *Mayor of Kitchener,

Carl Zehr Carl Zehr (born ) is a retired Canadian politician. He served as the mayor of Kitchener from 1997 to 2014. Prior to that he was a city councillor from 1985 to 1994. As of 2014, he was the longest-serving mayor in Kitchener. He was a member of ...

endorsed Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne.

Notes

References

External links

Elections Ontario
{{Ontario elections

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Ontario general election Ontario is the southernmost province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it is home to 38.5% of the country's population, and is the second-largest province by ...

General election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...