The 1977 Ontario general election was held on June 9, 1977, to elect the 125 members of the 31st Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The Progressive Conservative Party, led by Premier

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Behind Oliver Mowat, Davis was the List of premiers of Ontario by time in office, second-longes ...

, was re-elected for an eleventh consecutive term in office, again with a minority in the legislature. The PCs won an additional seven seats, but were not able to win a majority. 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 ...

, led by Dr. Stuart Smith, lost one seat compared to its result in the previous election, but formed the

Official Opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

because the NDP lost more seats. 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 ...

, led by

Stephen Lewis Stephen Henry Lewis (born November 11, 1937) is a Canadian politician, public speaker, broadcaster, and diplomat. He was the Canadian ambassador to the United Nations in the 1980s and was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democr ...

, lost five seats, losing the status of Official Opposition to the Liberals.

Sheila Copps Sheila Maureen Copps (born November 27, 1952) is a former Canadian politician who also served as the sixth deputy prime minister of Canada from November 4, 1993, to April 30, 1996, and June 19, 1996, to June 11, 1997. Her father, Victor Copps, ...

, future federal cabinet minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, made her political debut in this election, finishing second in the riding of Hamilton Centre. This was the first election in which Jim Bradley, the second-longest serving MPP in Ontario history, was elected.

Renaming of ridings

A 1976 Act made changes to the names of two ridings:

Campaign

A number of unregistered parties also contested this election. The North American Labour Party, consisting of

Lyndon LaRouche Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche Jr. (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2019) was an American political activist who founded the LaRouche movement and its main organization, the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC). He was a prominent conspiracy ...

supporters, ran three candidates in Toronto and three elsewhere in the province. The Revolutionary Marxist Group and League for Socialist Action fielded one candidate apiece; soon after the election, both groups merged into the Revolutionary Workers League. Some members of the Social Credit Party also ran in the election, although it is not clear if they were formally endorsed by the party.

Results

, - ! colspan=2 rowspan=2 , Political party ! rowspan=2 , Party leader ! colspan=4 , MPPs ! colspan=4 , Votes , - ! Candidates !

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

!1977 !± !# ! ± !% ! ± (pp) , style="text-align:left;",

, 125 , , 51 , , 58 , , 7 , , 1,322,723 , , 129,771 , , 39.58% , , 3.51 , rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;", Stuart Smith , 123 , , 35 , , 33 , , 2 , , 1,042,464 , , 83,151 , , 31.19% , , 2.85 , 2 , , 1 , , 1 , , , , 8,242 , , 824 , , 0.25% , , 0.02 , style="text-align:left;",

, 125 , , 38 , , 33 , , 5 , , 940,961 , , 15,943 , , 28.16% , , 0.78 , style="text-align:left;", Paul Mollon , 31 , , – , , – , , – , , 9,961 , , 5,524 , , 0.30% , , 0.17 , style="text-align:left;", William Stewart , 33 , , – , , – , , – , , 8,137 , , 983 , , 0.24% , , 0.04 , , , 25 , , – , , – , , – , , 7,414 , , 3,321 , , 0.22% , , 0.10 , , , 7 , , – , , – , , – , , 1,698 , , 2,448 , , 0.05% , , 0.08 , , , 1 , , – , , – , , – , , 233 , , 233 , , 0.01% , , ''New'' , - ! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Total , 472, , 125 ! " colspan="2", 125 ! " colspan="2", 3,341,833 ! " colspan="2", 100.00% , - , colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" , Rejected ballots , 19,600 , 1,663 , colspan="2", , - , colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" , Voter turnout , 3,361,433 , 50,657 , 65.60 , 2.22 , - , colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" , Registered electors , 5,123,768 , 620,626 , colspan="2",

Synopsis of results

: = open seat : = turnout is above provincial average : = winning candidate was in previous Legislature : = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature : = incumbent had switched allegiance : = incumbency arose from byelection gain : = previously incumbent in another riding : = Liberal-Labour candidate : = other incumbents renominated : = multiple candidates

Analysis

Seats changing hands

Eleven seats changed allegiance in this election: ;PC to NDP * Hamilton Mountain ;PC to Liberal *

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

;Liberal to PC * Armourdale *

London South London South was an electoral riding in Ontario, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward ...

* Wilson Heights ;NDP to PC * Cochrane South * Durham East * Durham West * Fort William *

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

* Timiskaming

MPPs elected by region and riding

Party designations are as follows: ;Northern Ontario * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ;Ottawa Valley * * * * * * * * * * ;Saint Lawrence Valley * * * * * ;Central Ontario * * * * * * * ;Georgian Bay * * * * * ;Hamilton/Halton/Niagara * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ;Midwestern Ontario * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ;Southwestern Ontario * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ;Peel/York/Durham * * * * * * * * * * ;Metropolitan Toronto * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *