Ontario Premier Doug Ford has unveiled his new cabinet, shuffling a number of ministers around the province’s major portfolios without axing any big names altogether.
Among the most significant changes in the shuffle are new faces at the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.
Paul Calandra has been moved to education from housing, while Rob Flack takes housing and leaves his role with agriculture. Todd McCarthy will be the new environment minister.
Education has seen a revolving door of ministers since Stephen Lecce, who held the role from 2019 to 2024, was shuffled out of the file last year.
Todd Smith was education minister for a matter of weeks over the summer of 2024 before he retired from politics and was replaced by Jill Dunlop. She served in the role for less than a year and has now been replaced by Calandra.
Other significant portfolios, however, have been left untouched.
Peter Bethlenfalvy remains at the Ministry of Finance and Sylvia Jones stays in her role as deputy premier and minister of health. Prabmeet Sarkaria keeps transportation.
Doug Downey is still the attorney general and Michael Kerzner is once again the solicitor general.
Ford has made changes to the Ministry of Natural Resources, which is set to play a key role over the next four years.
The premier plans to increase his focus on building an all-season road to the mineral-rich Ring of Fire in northern Ontario.
The push is part of Ontario’s strategy to increase its access to rare earth metals used in batteries and other tech products to try and improve its bargaining position with a volatile United States government.
The latest shuffle sees Ford’s long-time natural resources minister, Graydon Smith, moved out of the role. Mike Harris, who was previously at red tape reduction, will take over the file.
Kevin Holland stays on as the associate minister of forestry and forest products, reporting to Harris. Smith has been moved to be the associate minister of housing.
Stephen Lecce, who stays as energy minister, has had mines added to his portfolio. Sam Oosterhoff remains his associate minister.
Greg Rickford, who returns as the Minister of Indigenous Affairs, has had “responsibility for Ring of Fire economic and community partnerships” added to his role.
Ford highlighted the Ring of Fire as a key part of his next mandate in the statement he released with his cabinet selection.
“Our government will double down on our plan to build, train and re-skill workers for better jobs and bigger paycheques, tear down internal trade barriers, retool companies for new customers in new markets, attract more investments and cut through red tape to develop our vast natural resources, including critical minerals in the Ring of Fire,” Ford said.
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“No matter what, we will protect Ontario.”
Elsewhere, Dunlop, who was the education minister, will now take over as minister of emergency preparedness and response. Trevor Jones replaces Flack at agriculture after his move to housing.
The full cabinet is as follows:
- Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
- Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health
- Trevor Jones, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness
- Doug Downey, Attorney General
- Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services
- Graham McGregor, Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism
- Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security
- Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade
- Paul Calandra, Minister of Education
- Jill Dunlop, Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response
- Stephen Lecce, Minister of Energy and Mines
- Todd McCarthy, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
- Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance
- Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation and the Minister Responsible for Ring of Fire Economic and Community Partnerships
- Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure
- David Piccini, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development
- Natalia Kusendova-Bashta, Minister of Long-Term Care
- Rob Flack, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
- Mike Harris, Minister of Natural Resources
- George Pirie, Minister of Northern Economic Development and Growth
- Stephen Crawford, Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement
- Andrea Khanjin, Minister of Red Tape Reduction
- Lisa Thompson, Minister of Rural Affairs
- Raymond Cho, Minister of Seniors and Accessibility
- Michael Kerzner, Solicitor General
- Neil Lumsden, Minister of Sport
- Stan Cho, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming
- Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation
- Caroline Mulroney, President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Francophone Affairs
- Michael Tibollo, Associate Attorney General, as part of the Ministry of the Attorney General
- Zee Hamid, Associate Minister of Auto Theft and Bail Reform, as part of the Ministry of the Solicitor General
- Sam Oosterhoff, Associate Minister of Energy-Intensive Industries, as part of the Ministry of Energy and Mines
- Kevin Holland, Associate Minister of Forestry and Forest Products, as part of the Ministry of Natural Resources
- Graydon Smith, Associate Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, as part of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
- Vijay Thanigasalam, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, as part of the Ministry of Health
- Nina Tangri, Associate Minister of Small Business, as part of the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade
- Charmaine Williams, Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity, as part of the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
The cabinet was sworn in Wednesday afternoon by Lieutenant Governor Edith Dumont at the Royal Ontario Museum.
Ford dissolved the legislature at the end of January and called a snap winter election in an effort to grow his seat count beyond the 83 seats the Progressive Conservatives won in 2022.
Ford cited U.S. President Donald Trump as the reason why Ontarians needed to go to the polls early. The premier said he needed a bigger mandate than he had before to fight Trump’s tariffs, potentially spending billions in taxpayer dollars to stimulate the economy.
With polls showing the party was in super-majority territory, campaign operatives predicted Ford’s popularity during the campaign would translate into 90 to 100 seats, according to text messages shared with Global News.
Instead, Ford won a slightly smaller mandate of 80 seats while strengthening the opposition Liberals, which gained party status for the first time since 2018 and increased their seat count to 14.
The NDP formed the Official Opposition with 27.
Andrew Brander, vice-president at Crestview Strategies, explained Ford had to consider the right tone when curating his latest cabinet.
“Premier Ford framed the last election asking people of Ontario to give him a strong mandate for stability. Quite frankly, if the premier were to come in and make any kind of drastic changes to that, I think that would fly in the face of what he had been advocating for,” Brander told Global News.
Still, before the new inner circle was unveiled, NDP Leader Marit Stiles called for a complete overhaul of cabinet.
“What we saw in the last government was a health minister who didn’t think that the doctor shortage was a major concern, we saw a transportation minister who can’t open transit projects and an infrastructure minister who just didn’t answer questions at all,” Stiles said.
“We do need to see some change from this cabinet,” Stiles added.
Ford has also faced criticism over the size and cost of his cabinet which was tweaked in July 2024.
The result: 36 ministers and associate ministers earning taxpayer-funded salary top-ups, up from 20 in 2018. The government has also awarded 32 PC MPPs with parliamentary assistant positions, an increase from 28 in 2018.
Brander, a Conservative strategist, said Ford has always struggled with managing the expectations of the PC party caucus and is unlikely to shrink the size of cabinet.
“I think the premier might make the argument that a bigger team at the table is a stronger team for Ontario especially as they’re navigating a difficult landscape in the U.S.,” Brander said.
While cabinet was sworn in on Wednesday, the legislature is not set to return until April 14.
— with files from Global News’ Aaron D’Andrea
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