A joint release between Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario (CFS-O), CUPE Ontario, Environmental Defence, Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), and Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/SEFPO).
TORONTO, ON – $36 billion: that’s how much the Ontario government has misspent, overspent, or given away since 2018, announced civic leaders at Queen’s Park on Monday morning as the House returned in session.
Three days shy of the 2026 Ontario budget release, voices from labour, environmental protection, education, and community advocacy unveiled the results of efforts to document the Ford government’s years-long failed financial stewardship.
From cost overruns and legal losses, to environmental rollbacks, high-cost vanity projects, insider windfalls, and the infamous $75 million Reagan ad, the $36B running total could fill the public services deficit in healthcare, long-term care, and education combined.
Bill 124, capping wage increases for public sector workers, was ruled unconstitutional – twice. Ford spent $4.3M to take workers to court, a public cost which, coupled with a corporate bailout for $1B in 407 fees, could have funded over 40,000 nursing position incentives instead.
The unnecessary $1.4B cost to speed up privatized alcohol sales could have instead stabilized colleges suffering from over 600 program cuts. Pre-election and record advertising spending could have funded 9000 shelter beds, while the public cost of mismanaging transit builds could have maintained OSAP grants, which Premier Ford just cut, for 16 years.
Premier Ford’s misspending is a documented series of choices: every dollar misspent is diverted away from our communities. A new community dashboard housing the data — sourced from government records, audits, public reporting — aims to illustrate the true cost of impact at ItsOnFord.ca.
Civic leaders say the consolidated research comes back to the kitchen table: every dollar documented came from taxpayers, while every service cut, every ER which couldn’t stay open, happened because of provincial spending choices.
This record demonstrates the danger of recent reforms to freedom of information (FOI) legislation, which will put the Premier’s and cabinet members’ records behind a curtain of secrecy.
The retroactive changes will impact FOI requests related to a series of scandals benefitting wealth donors and insiders presided over by the Ontario government — from the Greenbelt to the Skills Development Fund.
Shielding elected officials and their spending from public scrutiny poses serious threats to transparency and will limit the ability of media and the public to access the information that ensures public accountability.
Quotes:
“Ontario’s economy grew, but $36 billion went towards cost overruns, legal losses, political advertising, insider windfalls, and other misguided priorities — not to the people who needed it. The growth was real. The ‘trickle down’ wasn’t.”
– JP Hornick, President, OPSEU/SEFPO
“Budgets are about priorities, and this government has made theirs clear. While students are being pushed deeper into debt to access public education, we’ve seen billions in public funds mispent and handed out to private interests. It has never been more clear that this government will deliberately prioritize profit over people every single time.”
– Cyrielle Ngeleka, Chairperson, Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario (CFS-O)
“Ontarians want a government whose priorities align with the people who create the wealth, not the well-connected few. When the government’s priorities are out of whack, the impact of their bad decisions are fewer good jobs, weaker protections, and rising pressure on workers and their families.”
– Laura Walton, President, Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL)
”Attacking environmental protections is expensive for the public. Letting polluters pollute for free or losing lawsuits while cancelling renewable energy contracts means that there is much less money available to solve the housing crisis or ensure people can see a doctor.”
– Tim Gray, Executive Director, Environmental Defence
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For more information, contact:
OPSEU/SEFPO Communications
[email protected]