of Ford’s government is in the midst of a large-scale advertising campaign, flooding radio and television with ads that all end with the phrase, “Protect Ontario” — a nod to the Progressive Conservatives’ election slogan.
But how many different ads the government is currently running and how much they are costing taxpayers is unclear.
Questions from Global News to the prime minister’s office seeking a full list of the various campaigns and how much each has been budgeted for went unanswered.
Among the campaigns already in circulation is one promoting the government’s vision to develop the mineral-rich Ring of Fire, another touting its plans to build small nuclear reactors and a separate site that discusses the building at length.
There seems to be so much hype that some think the government may be on track to pass its commercial budget last year – which was the highest in the province’s history.
“It looks like the path to even higher ad spending is on track,” Ontario Liberal finance critic Stephanie Bowman told Global News. “That really tells me they’re just pretending to protect Ontario.”
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Auditor General Shelley Spence’s annual advertising review found that in the fiscal year ending March 2025, the province spent $111.9 million on advertising — $8.4 million more than the year before, which had already set a record.
The biggest government-led campaigns during that period were its partnership commercials in the US, which ran across major US networks and a follow-up to the ‘It’s Happening Here’ ad domestically.
Bowman said the spending was hard to justify in a year when the government ran a deficit of $13.8 billion — an increase of more than 75 percent from a year earlier.
“This is just one more example of Ontario taxpayers footing the bill for this government to pat itself on the back,” Bowman added.
Prime Minister Doug Ford has defended his government’s advertising campaign, saying it is important that people understand how their money is being spent.
He recently suggested the province will also launch a health care trade campaign.
“Get out there and start telling people what we’re doing for health care because we’re doing so much,” he said in March.
“I think we need to get some information out, whether it’s social media or advertising or whatever it is, because people deserve to know what we’re doing. People deserve to know how we’re spending their tax dollars, but I’ll tell you, we’re spending a fortune right now (on health care).
The government has previously said the cost of any campaign will be disclosed through the annual public accounts process – but will not be disclosed proactively.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles accused the government of wasting public money to boost its reputation.
“Prime Minister Ford and his team are not the prudent fiscal managers they claim to be,” she said in a statement.
“How do they solve this by sinking billions into ridiculous waste projects, millions into partisan ads to fire people up, while driving Ontario into a historic deficit while our hospitals and schools have to call for help? The distance between what the Ford government says and what they do can be measured in miles.”
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
