$0.0B+ in documented fiscal impact

In November 2022, the Ford government announced it would remove 7,400 acres of protected Greenbelt land for housing development, while adding 9,400 acres elsewhere. The move was framed as necessary to meet housing targets. In August 2023, the Auditor General released a damning report revealing the land selection process was rushed, secretive, and favored developers with ties to the Progressive Conservative party. Developers who acquired the removed land stood to gain an estimated $8 billion in land value increases. The Integrity Commissioner found Housing Minister Steve Clark violated ethics rules and he resigned. Premier Ford's former chief of staff and a ministerial aide also resigned over their roles in the scandal. In October 2023, the RCMP announced a criminal investigation. Under intense pressure, Ford announced in September 2023 that all Greenbelt lands would be returned to protection. Despite the reversal, the RCMP investigation continues and the full extent of involvement remains under investigation.

In 2022, the Ford government announced an ambitious target to build 1.5 million homes by 2031, requiring approximately 150,000 housing starts per year. The government used this target to justify sweeping changes including Greenbelt land removal, development charge reductions, and weakened environmental protections. By 2024, housing starts had actually declined to approximately 74,000 - less than half the rate needed to meet the target. Despite removing regulatory "barriers" cited by the government as obstacles, construction has not accelerated. Industry experts noted that the actual barriers to housing - high interest rates, construction costs, labour shortages, and lack of affordable housing funding - were not addressed by the government's policies. Instead, the changes primarily benefited existing landowners and developers. The government quietly stopped emphasizing the 1.5 million target in 2024 communications, even as it continued to use housing urgency to justify controversial policies.

In January 2023, the Ford government announced a major expansion of private, for-profit surgical clinics to address surgical backlogs. Funding to private clinics has increased by over 200% while public hospitals face chronic underfunding. Critics pointed out that the government's own policies - particularly Bill 124 wage caps - contributed to the staffing shortages that created the backlogs in the first place. Public hospital operating rooms remained closed not due to lack of capacity but lack of staff. The expansion allows private clinics to perform an increasing range of surgeries paid for by OHIP but performed outside the public system. Five major healthcare unions opposed the expansion, warning it would drain staff and resources from public hospitals. By 2024, reports showed patients were being charged thousands of dollars for procedures nominally covered by OHIP, with private clinics upselling additional services and faster access. UPDATE (2026 Budget): The CCPA found the 2026 budget continues the pattern of redirecting public health funding to for-profit surgical facilities while the hospital sector is downsized through inadequate funding. Health care funding rises only 0.5% this year and drops 1.6% the next — below the rate of cost growth — while for-profit clinics receive an increasing share of surgical volumes.

Ontario's long-term care system experienced catastrophic failures during the COVID-19 pandemic, with thousands of residents dying in facilities that were understaffed and unprepared. The Canadian Armed Forces was deployed to some homes and released a scathing report documenting neglect and inadequate care. The Ford government promised major reforms, including a commitment to ensure residents receive an average of four hours of direct care per day and to build 30,000 new beds by 2028. However, implementation has been slow. As of 2024, staffing levels remained far below targets. At the current pace of construction, it would take 125 years to add the promised 30,000 beds. Meanwhile, the government continued to expand for-profit operators despite evidence that for-profit homes had higher death rates during the pandemic. The government granted legal immunity to long-term care operators, making it difficult for families to pursue legal action over pandemic deaths.

Highway 413 is a proposed 59-kilometer highway northwest of Toronto that would connect Highway 400 to Highway 401. The project, cancelled by the previous Liberal government, was revived by the Ford government in 2018. The highway would pave over 2,000 acres of farmland, cross 85 waterways, impact 220 wetlands, and affect the habitat of 10 species at risk. Critics note it would only save commuters 30-60 seconds compared to existing routes. Investigative journalism revealed that eight major developers own land along the proposed route, with four having direct connections to the Ford government. The project is estimated to cost taxpayers $6-10 billion while generating billions in profits for these landowners. Construction officially began in 2025 despite ongoing legal challenges and environmental concerns. The Ford government exempted the project from full environmental assessment requirements.

In November 2022, the Ford government announced it would remove 7,400 acres of protected Greenbelt land for housing development, while adding 9,400 acres elsewhere. The move was framed as necessary to meet housing targets. In August 2023, the Auditor General released a damning report revealing the land selection process was rushed, secretive, and favored developers with ties to the Progressive Conservative party. Developers who acquired the removed land stood to gain an estimated $8 billion in land value increases. The Integrity Commissioner found Housing Minister Steve Clark violated ethics rules and he resigned. Premier Ford's former chief of staff and a ministerial aide also resigned over their roles in the scandal. In October 2023, the RCMP announced a criminal investigation. Under intense pressure, Ford announced in September 2023 that all Greenbelt lands would be returned to protection. Despite the reversal, the RCMP investigation continues and the full extent of involvement remains under investigation.

In July 2018, just weeks after taking office and in the middle of a municipal election campaign, the Ford government announced it would cut Toronto city council from 47 to 25 seats. The change was imposed without consultation with the city. When the Ontario Superior Court ruled the legislation unconstitutional because it infringed on freedom of expression during an election, the government immediately announced it would invoke the notwithstanding clause to override the ruling. The case eventually reached the Court of Appeal, which overturned the lower court ruling, making the notwithstanding clause unnecessary. However, the government's willingness to use the clause to override fundamental rights was established. The change reduced representation for Toronto residents and was seen as retaliation for Ford's years of conflict with Toronto city council during his time as a councillor.

Despite an escalating opioid crisis, the Ford government imposed a moratorium on new supervised consumption sites (also called safe injection sites) and attempted to close existing ones. During this moratorium, opioid deaths in Ontario rose from approximately 1,500 per year to over 2,500 annually. Public health experts consistently identify supervised consumption as an evidence-based harm reduction measure that prevents overdose deaths and connects users with treatment services. UPDATE — THREE-PHASE ESCALATION: Phase 1 — Moratorium (October 5, 2023): Associate Minister Michael Tibollo announced Ontario was pausing all new supervised consumption site approvals pending a "critical incident review," triggered by a shooting near the South Riverdale Community Health Centre in July 2023. At the time, Tibollo stated: "We're not looking at shutting down" existing sites. At least 5 pending applications were frozen (Sudbury, Barrie, Windsor, Timmins; Hamilton withdrew). Phase 2 — Legislative Closures (December 2024 – March 2025): Bill 223, the Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act, received Royal Assent on December 4, 2024. It banned supervised consumption sites within 200 metres of schools, child care centres, and EarlyON centres. 10 of 17 then-operating sites fell within the buffer zone. Despite a court injunction granted March 28, 2025 temporarily blocking enforcement, 9 sites closed on March 31, 2025 after signing agreements to convert to Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs — because rejecting conversion would forfeit approximately 4x their previous funding. Phase 3 — Complete Defunding (March 2026): On March 17, 2026, the Ontario government confirmed it would end funding for all 7 remaining provincially funded CTS, with a 90-day wind-down period making the effective closure date June 13, 2026. Sites affected include 2 in Toronto (Moss Park, Fred Victor), 2 in Ottawa, 1 in London, 1 in Peterborough (Fourcast), and 1 in St. Catharines (Positive Living Niagara, which may have until September 30, 2026 under a qualified exemption). When complete, only self-funded sites will remain operating in Ontario. Updated opioid death data: 2,231 Ontarians died from opioid toxicity in 2024 (down from a peak of 2,880 in 2021 but still above 2,200 annually). Chief Coroner Dr. Dirk Huyer: "That's within a context of 2,231 people dying last year." The defunding occurred the same week the government announced expanded BYOB permits for organized outdoor events (March 17, 2026) — expanding public access to alcohol at the same time supervised consumption services are being eliminated.

The government repeatedly used omnibus budget bills to pass significant policy changes with minimal scrutiny. Changes affecting environment, health, education, and democracy were buried in hundreds of pages with limited debate time. UPDATE (March 2026): Bill 97, the "Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2026," tabled March 26, is the most consequential omnibus bill of Ford's tenure. It bundles a retroactive FOI exemption for ministers (Schedule 7), the consolidation of 36 conservation authorities into 9 (Schedule 3), extended FOI response timelines from 30 to 45 business days, and dozens of other policy changes across multiple ministries. All three opposition leaders criticized the format. NDP Leader Marit Stiles said: "There's so much in there that, frankly, I don't think anybody can understand where the government is going with it." Green Leader Mike Schreiner said: "They have made a habit of shortening the legislative sittings as much as possible then using massive omnibus bills to jam as many things as they can through the legislature as quickly as they can." Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser said: "If you have like five other bills inside it, it's like you're avoiding legislative scrutiny." (All quotes: Canadian Press, March 27, 2026, Allison Jones and Liam Casey.)

Following revelations that Premier Ford used personal devices for government business, transparency advocates and journalists sought access to these records through the courts. In 2024, the Ontario Superior Court ruled that the Premier must turn over records from his personal phone that relate to government business. The government initially resisted the order. Separate reporting revealed that Ford's government-issued phone went unused for a three-month period during the pandemic, raising questions about where official communications were actually occurring. The Integrity Commissioner also ordered searches of personal devices belonging to staff connected to the Greenbelt scandal. The full contents and implications of these records remain under review. UPDATE (March 2026): On December 29, 2025, the Ontario Divisional Court dismissed the government's judicial review application in Ontario (AG) v. Ontario (IPC), 2025 ONSC 7099, upholding the IPC's order that Ford's personal cellphone call logs related to government business must be disclosed. Rather than comply, the Ford government introduced Bill 97 on March 26, 2026 — an omnibus budget bill containing Schedule 7, which amends FIPPA to exempt the Premier, cabinet ministers, and their offices from freedom of information law. The exemption is retroactive to January 1, 1988 — the date FIPPA originally came into force — effectively extinguishing the court-ordered disclosure and all existing FOI requests for ministerial records. On March 16, 2026, Ford stated: "When it comes to a cabinet conversation within cabinet and on personal cellphones that should not be FOIable." He framed the change as protecting constituent privacy, though the legislation followed directly from the government's loss in the cellphone records case. UPDATE (April 23, 2026): Bill 97 passed into law. The FIPPA amendment permanently exempts the Premier's Office and all ministers from FOI law, retroactive to 1988. The court order from 2025 ONSC 7099 directing disclosure of Ford's cellphone records is legislatively nullified. Democracy Watch is preparing a constitutional challenge. See related case: bill-97-foi-clampdown. UPDATE (May 2026 — ONCA Dismisses Leave; IPC Reinstates Order): On May 19, 2026, the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed the government's request for leave to appeal the Divisional Court's December 29, 2025 decision (2025 ONSC 7099), which had upheld the Information and Privacy Commissioner's Order PO-4577-F directing the disclosure of Premier Ford's personal cellphone call logs related to government business. The dismissal exhausted the government's appeal path through the Ontario courts on this matter. On Friday, May 22, 2026, the IPC issued a reinstatement letter telling civil servants: "I now lift the stay on Order PO-4577-F and reinstate the… order provisions." The letter set a 30-day deadline for civil servants to obtain the relevant call-log entries from the premier, determine which calls are government-related, and make their access decision public. (Global News, May 25, 2026, Isaac Callan & Colin D'Mello.) A spokesperson for the Premier's office told Global News the government was "reviewing the Ontario Court of Appeal's decision and determining next steps." The IPC spokesperson noted that "any access decision made by an institution may be appealed to the IPC in accordance with Ontario's access and privacy laws" — meaning that even after the civil servants make their decision, requesters can appeal back to the IPC. The practical effect of compliance is constrained by Bill 97, the Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2026, which passed into law on April 23, 2026 and retroactively exempts the Premier's Office and all ministers from FIPPA back to 1988 (see related case: bill-97-foi-clampdown). The IPC adjudicator's reinstatement letter itself acknowledged this constraint, stating: "Cabinet Office is responsible for considering and applying the law as it currently stands, including any relevant amendments under Bill 97." According to Global News, the retroactive amendment "is likely to nullify" the disclosure obligation by allowing civil servants to revise their access decisions under the new exemption. Democracy Watch has announced it is preparing a constitutional challenge to Bill 97. As of this writing, no government cellphone call logs have been released.

Through a series of legislative changes beginning in 2020, the Ford government systematically reduced the powers of Ontario's 36 conservation authorities. These agencies had long served as the first line of defense against development in flood plains and environmentally sensitive areas. Bill 229 (2020) and Bill 23 (2022) removed conservation authorities' ability to reject development permits based on environmental concerns. Instead, they can only provide advice that municipalities and the province can ignore. The changes also reduced wetland protections, cutting the required setback from 120 meters to 30 meters. Private consultants hired by developers, rather than ministry staff, now assess wetland boundaries in many cases. Between March 2019 and 2021, the government issued 44 Minister's Zoning Orders (MZOs) - compared to approximately one per year historically - often overriding conservation authority objections. UPDATE (March 2026): Bill 97 (March 26, 2026) proposes consolidating Ontario's 36 conservation authorities into 9 regional bodies under Schedule 3. Thirty-five authorities would be amalgamated into 8 new regional conservation authorities, with the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority continued as the ninth under a new name. Environment Minister Todd McCarthy stated the current system is "fragmented" with "different policies, different standards, different fees." The government framed the consolidation as enabling "quicker housing and development approvals in sensitive areas" — explicitly connecting environmental oversight reduction to development speed. This is a structural escalation beyond the powers already stripped by Bill 229 (2020) and Bill 23 (2022): where those bills removed conservation authorities' ability to consider ecological impacts, Bill 97 proposes to eliminate the majority of the independent bodies themselves. The consolidation is scheduled to begin May 2026 and complete by early 2027, with a new Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency (OPCA) and a $20 million budget.

On March 23, 2026, Ford announced the province would designate Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport as the first special economic zone under the Special Economic Zones Act (Bill 5, S.O. 2025, c. 4, Sched. 9). Under this Act, cabinet can exempt any company or project from any provincial law, regulation, or municipal bylaw by regulation — no legislative vote required. The province intends to take over the City of Toronto's approximately 20% stake in the airport land (PortsToronto holds ~78%, Transport Canada ~2%), with the stated intent to extend the runway and allow jet operations. The current tripartite agreement, signed June 30, 1983 between the city, Transport Canada, and the Toronto Port Authority, prohibits runway extensions and jet aircraft — and requires the consent of all three parties for amendments. Mayor Olivia Chow stated: "Unilateral action to grab city land without consulting Torontonians is not acceptable to people." Toronto City Council voted to oppose "any unilateral expropriation" of city land and to investigate legal opposition. Ford did not specify which laws would be suspended for the airport designation. The absence of this disclosure is itself an accountability gap — the SEZ mechanism grants cabinet the power to suspend any applicable law without requiring public notice of which laws are being suspended. Context: Ford previously announced the Ring of Fire as the first SEZ target on June 5, 2025 (the day Bill 5 received Royal Assent), but retreated in March 2026 after First Nations pushback and legal challenges. Ford told reporters at the PDAC convention: "there's no reason to use [Bill 5]" for the Ring of Fire. The mechanism was then redirected to Billy Bishop — a target with less organized opposition than First Nations treaty holders. UPDATE (Late April 2026 — Building Billy Bishop Act): Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria tabled the Building Billy Bishop Act to expropriate city-owned land and remove Toronto from the tripartite agreement governing the airport. The legislation as written allows the province to expropriate almost all city-owned land on the Toronto Islands, including beaches and parkland, though the government says it will only take what is needed. One-third of Little Norway Park is specifically identified for seizure. The Toronto Port Authority confirmed the runway extension could require adding up to 2.1 kilometres of landmass into Lake Ontario. Mayor Olivia Chow stated: "Unilateral action to grab city land without consulting Torontonians is not acceptable to people." NDP MPPs called on the federal government to block the expansion. The expansion could also limit building heights in the Port Lands housing development, capping towers at roughly 15 storeys instead of the planned 19 to 46 storeys — a direct conflict between the government's airport ambitions and its own housing targets. The gap between legislative authority and stated intent is itself an accountability concern: the bill grants power to seize all Islands land, the government says it will only use some of that power, and the simultaneous passage of Bill 97 ensures FOI requests cannot verify what was actually taken or on what terms.

On April 23, 2026, the Ontario legislature passed Bill 97, the "Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2026." Schedule 7 of the omnibus bill rewrites the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) to permanently exempt the Premier's Office, cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants, and all political staff from freedom of information requests. The exemption is retroactive to January 1, 1988 — the date FIPPA originally came into force — nullifying forty years of existing records and extinguishing dozens of pending FOI cases. Among those cases: a court order from 2025 ONSC 7099 directing Ford to release personal cellphone call logs from November 2022, the month the Greenbelt land removals were announced. Ford stated publicly: "When it comes to a cabinet conversation within cabinet and on personal cellphones that should not be FOIable" — a remark that directly addressed the category of records at issue in the Global News case (Global News, March 17, 2026). The Information and Privacy Commissioner urged the government to abandon the changes before passage, stating they would make Ontario less transparent than any other Canadian jurisdiction. The government bypassed public committee hearings and fast-tracked the bill through a late-night legislative session. Democracy Watch announced it is preparing a constitutional challenge to the FOI changes (Global News, April 30, 2026). An Abacus Data poll found that only 24% of Ontarians supported the policy (cited in Globe and Mail editorial, April 21, 2026). The legislative sequence is clear: Ford lost the phone records case in court (December 2025), introduced Bill 97 to rewrite the law rather than comply (March 2026), and passed it over the objection of the IPC, opposition parties, and 76% of the public (April 2026). The mechanism is not an override of one court order — it is the permanent removal of the Premier and all ministers from the reach of Ontario's transparency law.

On March 23, 2026, Ford announced the province would designate Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport as the first special economic zone under the Special Economic Zones Act (Bill 5, S.O. 2025, c. 4, Sched. 9). Under this Act, cabinet can exempt any company or project from any provincial law, regulation, or municipal bylaw by regulation — no legislative vote required. The province intends to take over the City of Toronto's approximately 20% stake in the airport land (PortsToronto holds ~78%, Transport Canada ~2%), with the stated intent to extend the runway and allow jet operations. The current tripartite agreement, signed June 30, 1983 between the city, Transport Canada, and the Toronto Port Authority, prohibits runway extensions and jet aircraft — and requires the consent of all three parties for amendments. Mayor Olivia Chow stated: "Unilateral action to grab city land without consulting Torontonians is not acceptable to people." Toronto City Council voted to oppose "any unilateral expropriation" of city land and to investigate legal opposition. Ford did not specify which laws would be suspended for the airport designation. The absence of this disclosure is itself an accountability gap — the SEZ mechanism grants cabinet the power to suspend any applicable law without requiring public notice of which laws are being suspended. Context: Ford previously announced the Ring of Fire as the first SEZ target on June 5, 2025 (the day Bill 5 received Royal Assent), but retreated in March 2026 after First Nations pushback and legal challenges. Ford told reporters at the PDAC convention: "there's no reason to use [Bill 5]" for the Ring of Fire. The mechanism was then redirected to Billy Bishop — a target with less organized opposition than First Nations treaty holders. UPDATE (Late April 2026 — Building Billy Bishop Act): Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria tabled the Building Billy Bishop Act to expropriate city-owned land and remove Toronto from the tripartite agreement governing the airport. The legislation as written allows the province to expropriate almost all city-owned land on the Toronto Islands, including beaches and parkland, though the government says it will only take what is needed. One-third of Little Norway Park is specifically identified for seizure. The Toronto Port Authority confirmed the runway extension could require adding up to 2.1 kilometres of landmass into Lake Ontario. Mayor Olivia Chow stated: "Unilateral action to grab city land without consulting Torontonians is not acceptable to people." NDP MPPs called on the federal government to block the expansion. The expansion could also limit building heights in the Port Lands housing development, capping towers at roughly 15 storeys instead of the planned 19 to 46 storeys — a direct conflict between the government's airport ambitions and its own housing targets. The gap between legislative authority and stated intent is itself an accountability concern: the bill grants power to seize all Islands land, the government says it will only use some of that power, and the simultaneous passage of Bill 97 ensures FOI requests cannot verify what was actually taken or on what terms.