Ontario government spending on advertising hit record $112M

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An auditor found the Ontario government spent the largest amount recorded on advertising last year, and opposition parties accused the government of a flurry of government spending it used to promote itself in an election year.

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Auditor General Shelley Spence said government advertising spending has traditionally risen sharply before elections, but it rose to $111.9 million in the 2024-25 fiscal year, its highest level ever.

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That's $8.4 million more than the previous year, which set a record for spending, she said.

Spence said many of the advertising campaigns were designed to create a positive impression of the Progressive Conservatives rather than to provide Ontarians with information about government programs or services.

“When I look at the value for money of these ads, we look at whether it tells me something that I didn't know as a person in Ontario, and some of the ads are very promotional in nature for the party in power,” she said at a news conference.

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“They're not really providing really good, reliable information to the citizens of Ontario.”

The former Liberal government changed advertising rules 10 years ago, sharply limiting the auditor general's power to veto government-funded advertising as party advertising, and despite promising to return to the old rules in 2018, the Tories have decided to keep them.

Advertisements flagged this year by the Auditor General that were not tested under previous party advertising rules include the government's “It Happens Here” campaigns for the energy, mining and automotive sectors.

Those ads accounted for $43 million, or about 38 percent of all government advertising spending, according to Spence.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles accused the Progressive Conservative government of using public money to fund its political goals ahead of the election.

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“Only the prime minister knew the elections were coming,” she said.

“He called a special election, but he knew when it would come. His government knew when it would come, and they used taxpayer money to run party ads to convince Ontarians that everything was fine in their world.”

Green Party leader Mike Schreiner said government advertising was important, but the government was using it as advertising.

“We need advertising that actually provides people with information about concrete steps they can take to improve their lives and access public services, not partisan political advertising that is entirely designed to promote the prime minister's personal political agenda,” he said.

Liberal parliamentary leader John Fraser said the government's spending on what he called party advertising was “enormous” and it was a mistake for the former Liberal government to relax the rules.

“It’s so brazen and so open,” he said. “I'm angry about it, and I'm also angry because we changed the law… it was wrong.”

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