Next Ontario Liberal Party leadership election

Next Ontario Liberal Party leadership election

←  2023 TBD

Incumbent leader John Fraser (interim)

TBD Ontario Liberal Party leadership election

Date	TBD
Convention	TBD
Resigning leader	Bonnie Crombie
Won by	TBD
Ballots	TBD
Candidates	TBD
Entrance fee	TBD
Spending limit	TBD
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The next Ontario Liberal Party leadership election will be held to replace Bonnie Crombie following her September 14, 2025 announcement that she intends to resign as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party upon the election of her successor.

Background

In the 2025 general election, the Ontario Liberal Party saw an increase in support over their 2022 result, finishing second in the popular vote. However, the party won only 14 seats. Crombie, who had been elected leader in 2023, failed to win a seat in Mississauga East—Cooksville.

In the party's leadership review vote on September 14, 2025, Crombie obtained 57% approval from party members and subsequently announced her pending resignation as party leader. ^[1] She had initially announced that she would remain as leader until her successor was elected, but would ultimately resign from the position on January 14, 2026. ^[2]

Rules and procedures

Under the procedure outlined by the party's constitution, ^[3] all members of the Ontario Liberal Party will be eligible to vote directly for leader by preferential ballot and instant-runoff voting.

Votes will be weighted, with each provincial electoral district being allocated 100 points, and with points in a district allocated in proportion to each candidate by the number of first preference votes received. Each of the party's recognized student clubs will be allocated 50 points, and each of the party's recognized women's clubs will be allocated 5 points. ^[4]

When the ballots are counted, if no candidate receives 50 per cent of the points, the lowest-ranked candidate will be dropped from the next round, with their second choice votes distributed to the remaining candidates. This will continue until a candidate receives 50 per cent of the vote.

Timeline

2025

• February 27 – Ontario general election held, resulting in a third consecutive majority PC government. The Liberals win 14 seats, obtaining official party status. Bonnie Crombie failed to win her own seat, but announced her intention to continue as leader in her concession speech.
• September 14 – At the Ontario Liberal Party Annual General Meeting, 57% of delegates voted against holding a leadership contest. Crombie announced during a speech to delegates after the results were announced that she would remain as leader. However, several hours later, after meeting with the party executive, she announced her intention to resign as leader once a leadership election is held to choose her successor. ^{[5] [6]}
• September 28 — The party's executive council approved the creation of a Leadership Vote Committee chaired by party treasurer Gabriel Sékaly and including party president Kathryn McGarry to "consult with members, research best practices and provide recommendations" for the upcoming leadership election. ^{[7] [8]}

2026

• January 14 — Bonnie Crombie officially resigns as Liberal leader. ^[9]
• January 19 — John Fraser who previously served as interim leader from 2018-2020 and 2022-2023, is nominated by the Ontario Liberal caucus to serve as interim leader. ^[10]
• January 22 — Party's executive council, riding association presidents and caucus formally confirm selection of Fraser as interim leader. ^{[11] [12]}
• February 9 — Full details of the leadership election timeline and rules are to be announced by this date. ^[10]

Candidates

Potential

• Navdeep Bains, federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry (2015–2021), MP for Mississauga—Malton (2015–2021), MP for Mississauga—Brampton South (2004–2011) ^[13]
• Yvan Baker, MP for Etobicoke Centre (2019—present), MPP for Etobicoke Centre (2014–2018) ^{[13] [14]}
• Dr. Andrew Boozary, physician, executive director of the Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine ^[13]
• Stephanie Bowman, MPP for Don Valley West (2022–present) ^{[15] [14] [16]}
• Rob Cerjanec, MPP for Ajax (2025–present) ^{[13] [14] [16]}
• Mike Crawley, president of the Liberal Party of Canada (2012—2014), CEO of AIM PowerGen Corporation (2002—2009), CEO of Northland Power (2018—2024) ^{[17] [16]}
• Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, MP for Beaches—East York (2015–present), federal Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities (2024–2025), finished second in the 2023 leadership election, seeking the Liberal nomination for the upcoming Scarborough Southwest provincial by-election. ^{[18] [19]}

• Lee Fairclough, MPP for Etobicoke—Lakeshore (2025–present) ^{[20] [21]}
• Vikram Handa, human rights lawyer, 2014 candidate for Liberal Party of Canada nomination in Davenport. ^{[22] [16]}
• Eric Lombardi, housing activist, Chair of Build Toronto, founder of More Neighbours Toronto. ^{[23] [24]}
• Josh Matlow, Toronto City Councillor for Ward 12-Toronto-St. Paul’s (2010–present), candidate for Mayor of Toronto (2023), Liberal candidate in Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey (2002) ^{[25] [14] [26]}
• Marco Mendicino, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister (2025), federal Minister of Public Safety (2021–2023), federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (2019–2021), MP for Eglinton—Lawrence (2015–2025) ^[13]
• Adil Shamji, MPP for Don Valley East (2022–present) ^{[15] [14] [16]}
• Tyler Watt, MPP for Nepean (2025–present) ^{[25] [14]}

Declined

• John Fraser, Interim Leader (2018–2020, 2022–2023), Parliamentary Leader (2018–present), MPP for Ottawa South (2013–present) ^[13]
• Vince Gasparro, MP for Eglinton—Lawrence (2025–present) ^[13]
• Karina Gould, MP for Burlington (2015–present), federal Government House Leader (2023–2025), federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development (2021–2023), federal Minister of International Development (2019–2021), federal Minister of Democratic Institutions (2017–2019), finished third in the 2025 federal leadership election ^{[13] [14] [16] [27]}
• Ted Hsu, MPP for Kingston and the Islands (2022–present), MP for Kingston and the Islands (2011–2015), finished fourth in the 2023 leadership election ^[28]
• Jeff Lehman, Chair of the District of Muskoka (2022–present), Mayor of Barrie (2010–2022) ^{[13] [29]}
• Danielle Martin, chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, founding chair of Canadian Doctors for Medicare (2006—2014). ^[20] Running in the 2026 University—Rosedale federal by-election. ^[30]
• Yasir Naqvi, MP for Ottawa Centre (2021–present), finished third in the 2023 leadership election ^{[13] [31]}

References

1. Cross, Jessica Smith; Cornwell, Steve (September 14, 2025). "Bonnie Crombie to step down as Ontario Liberal Party leader". The Trillium. Retrieved September 14, 2025.
2. Freeman, Joshua (January 14, 2026). "Bonnie Crombie no longer Ontario Liberal leader 'effective immediately'". CTV News . Retrieved January 14, 2026.
3. "Constitution of the Ontario Liberal Party" (PDF). Ontario Liberal Party . Retrieved April 18, 2023.
4. Chamandy, Aidan; Pinkerton, Charlie (March 4, 2023). "Ontario Liberals to allow all members to vote in leadership elections". The Trillium. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
5. Smith Cross, Jessica; Cornwall, Steve (September 14, 2025). "BREAKING: Bonnie Crombie to step down as Ontario Liberal Party leader". The Trillium. Retrieved September 15, 2025.
6. Stone, Laura (September 14, 2025). "Bonnie Crombie to resign after Ontario Liberals narrowly voted against leadership contest". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved September 18, 2025.
7. "Ontario Liberal Party launches process of selecting new leader to replace Bonnie Crombie". CBC News. September 28, 2025. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
8. "Ontario Liberal Party Begins Process to Select Next Leader". Ontario Liberal Party . September 28, 2025. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
9. Freeman, Joshua (January 14, 2026). "Bonnie Crombie no longer Ontario Liberal leader 'effective immediately'". CTV News . Retrieved January 14, 2026.
10. Jones, Allison (January 19, 2026). "Ontario Liberal caucus names John Fraser as pick for interim leader". Canadian Press. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
11. "Ontario Liberal Party Confirms John Fraser as Interim Leader". Ontario Liberal Party. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
12. Ercit, Jordan (January 24, 2026). "John Fraser confirmed as interim Ontario Liberal leader after party vote". Windsor Star . Postmedia . Retrieved January 30, 2026.
13. D'Mello, Colin; Callan, Isaac (September 15, 2025). "Ontario Liberals prepare for another leadership election. Who's in?". Global News. Retrieved September 15, 2025.
14. Welsh, Moira. "The Ontario Liberal leadership race got another 'maybe,' this time from a federal MP". Toronto Star. September 24, 2025. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
15. Cohn, Martin Regg (September 14, 2025). "For Bonnie Crombie, there will be no new beginning, as the Liberal leader resigns". Toronto Star. Retrieved September 14, 2025.
16. Patrocinio, Barbara (November 25, 2025). "A first look at the possible contenders for the Ontario Liberal Leadership". QP Briefing. iPolitics . Retrieved November 27, 2025.
17. "SCOOP: Calling Crawley". www.policorner.ca. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
18. "How one defection to Mark Carney's Liberals set off a political earthquake at Queen's Park". Toronto Star. February 3, 2026. Retrieved February 3, 2026.
19. Lavoie, Joanna (February 3, 2026). "Toronto MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith plans to run for Ontario Liberal leader". CTV News . Retrieved February 3, 2026.
20. Paikin, Steve (October 8, 2025). "ANALYSIS: Who wants to lead the Ontario Liberals?". tvo Today. TVOntario. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
21. Schmidt, Hannah (January 10, 2026). "Former St. Mary's General Hospital president considering Ontario Liberal leadership bid". CTVNews. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
22. Nanji, Sabrina (November 6, 2025). "This Grit veteran is betting on an outsider to save the party". Queen's Park Observer. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
23. "SCOOP: Is this the dark horse in the race for Liberal leader?". www.policorner.ca. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
24. Chamandy, Aidan (January 29, 2026). "Toronto housing advocate considering Ontario Liberal Party leadership bid". torontotoday.ca. Village Media . Retrieved January 29, 2026.
25. "Nate Erskine-Smith isn't saying if he'll join race to become Ontario Liberal leader". Toronto Star. September 17, 2025. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
26. Spurr, Ben (January 29, 2026). "Toronto councillor Josh Matlow not closing door on Liberal leadership bid". Toronto Star . Retrieved January 30, 2026.
27. "MP Karina Gould declines Ontario Liberal leadership bid". Burlington Today. Village Media . Retrieved December 10, 2025.
28. "Hsu decides not to run for Liberal party leadership". The Kingston Whig-Standard . January 7, 2026. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
29. Online, Doppler (September 22, 2025). "District Chair says he's not running for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party". Huntsville Doppler. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
30. Steven, Benjamin Lopez (January 31, 2026). "Liberals announce Danielle Martin will be their candidate for University-Rosedale byelection". CBC News . Retrieved February 3, 2026.
31. Stone, Laura (September 15, 2025). "Ontario Liberal caucus says it didn't press Bonnie Crombie to resign". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved September 15, 2025.