Ontario Liberal Party facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ontario Liberal Party Parti libéral de l'Ontario
Abbreviation	OLP PLO
Leader	Bonnie Crombie
President	Kathryn McGarry
Parliamentary leader	John Fraser
House leader	Lucille Collard
Founded	1857; 168 years ago (1857)
Preceded by	Clear Grits
Headquarters	344 Bloor Street W. Suite 404 Toronto, Ontario M5S 3A7 Canada
Youth wing	Ontario Young Liberals
Women's wing	Ontario Women’s Liberal Commission
Membership (2023)	103,206
Ideology	Liberalism (Canadian)
National affiliation	None
Colours	Red
Seats in Legislature	14 / 124
Political parties

The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP) is one of the main political parties in the province of Ontario, Canada. A political party is a group of people with similar ideas about how to run a government. The party's current leader is Bonnie Crombie, who was elected in December 2023.

The OLP is connected to the federal Liberal Party of Canada, but they are two separate organizations. This means they have their own leaders, rules, and members, although many people support both.

The party follows the ideas of liberalism. In Ontario's political world, the Progressive Conservative Party is generally seen as being to the right of the Liberals, while the New Democratic Party (NDP) is to their left.

After governing Ontario for 15 years, the Liberals had a major defeat in the 2018 election. They won only seven seats, which was not enough to keep their official party status. In the 2022 election, they won eight seats. In the 2025 election, under Bonnie Crombie's leadership, the party won 14 seats and regained official party status.

History of the Party

How the Party Began

The Ontario Liberal Party started from the Reform Party in the 1830s and 1840s. Leaders like Robert Baldwin and William Lyon Mackenzie wanted responsible government, which means the government should be accountable to the people's elected representatives.

The modern Liberal party was formed in 1857 by George Brown. He brought together different groups, including the "Clear Grits" from southwestern Ontario. They wanted democratic reforms and supported the idea of Canadian Confederation, which was the joining of Britain's colonies to create the country of Canada in 1867.

Early Years in Government

After Confederation in 1867, Edward Blake became the leader of the Ontario Liberals. He defeated the Conservatives in the 1871 election. Soon after, Blake moved to federal politics, and Oliver Mowat took over as leader and Premier of Ontario.

Mowat was premier for a very long time, until 1896. Under his leadership, the Liberals tried to be a party for everyone, including both Catholics and Protestants, and people from both cities and rural areas.

A Long Time in Opposition

After being in power for over 30 years, the Liberals lost the 1905 election. The party had become disorganized and lost touch with many voters. For many years, they struggled to win elections and were even smaller than the United Farmers of Ontario for a while.

The party was so disorganized that for seven years it was led by an interim leader, W.E.N. Sinclair, because they couldn't hold a proper leadership vote. By the 1930s, the Liberals were a small party with most of their support in rural areas.

Return to Power with Mitch Hepburn

The party's fortunes changed when they chose Mitchell Hepburn as their leader in 1930. Hepburn was a farmer and a skilled politician who brought new energy to the party. He was able to unite different groups of voters, including farmers, city dwellers, Catholics, and French-speakers.

When the Great Depression hit, people were looking for a change. Hepburn's exciting style helped the Liberals win the 1934 election. However, his government had major disagreements with unions and with the federal Liberal government of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. These conflicts divided the party and led to their defeat in the 1943 election.

The Post-War Years

For the next 42 years, from 1943 to 1985, Ontario was governed by the Progressive Conservatives, also known as the Tories. During this time, the Liberal Party was mostly a small, rural party.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Liberals had very little support in big cities like Metropolitan Toronto. For a time, it seemed like the NDP might replace them as the second-biggest party.

The Peterson Government

Logo of the Ontario Liberal Party from 1985 to 1990

In 1985, under the leadership of David Peterson, the Liberals finally broke the Tories' long hold on power. Peterson modernized the party, making it more popular with voters in cities and with new immigrants.

From 1985 to 1987, Peterson led a minority government. He made a deal with the NDP, who agreed to support the Liberals in exchange for the government passing certain laws. When the deal ended, Peterson called an election in 1987 and won a huge majority government with 95 seats.

However, the government's popularity didn't last. In the 1990 election, many voters were unhappy that an election was called after only three years. The Liberals ran a poor campaign and lost badly to the NDP, led by Bob Rae. The party's number of seats fell from 95 to 36.

The McGuinty-Wynne Era

Dalton McGuinty was the Liberal leader from 1996 to 2013.

The Liberals returned to opposition. In 1996, they chose Dalton McGuinty as their new leader. After losing the 1999 election to the Progressive Conservatives, McGuinty and the Liberals worked hard to rebuild.

Winning in 2003

In the 2003 election, McGuinty led the Liberals to a majority government, winning 72 of 103 seats. His campaign focused on positive messages about improving schools and healthcare.

One of the new government's first major decisions was to create a "Health Premium," which was a new tax based on income. This broke a key campaign promise not to raise taxes. McGuinty said the tax was necessary to pay for promises in healthcare and education and to fix a budget deficit left by the previous government.

The McGuinty government also created the Greenbelt, a large area of protected land around Toronto, and banned smoking in public places.

Three Terms in Government

The Liberals won again in the 2007 election and the 2011 election, making McGuinty the first Liberal leader in 70 years to win three elections in a row. In 2012, McGuinty stepped down as leader.

Kathleen Wynne was elected as the new leader in 2013, becoming Ontario's first female premier. In the 2014 election, she led the Liberals to another majority government. One of her government's major policies was selling a large part of Hydro One, the province's electricity utility.

Losing Official Party Status

Logo of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2022 to 2024

In the 2018 election, the Liberals suffered the worst defeat in the party's history. Their support dropped sharply, and they won only seven seats. This was not enough to keep their official party status, which means they lost funding and the right to ask as many questions in the legislature. Wynne resigned as leader on election night.

Steven Del Duca became the new leader in 2020. In the 2022 election, the party won eight seats, still not enough for official status. Del Duca resigned after failing to win a seat himself.

Leadership of Bonnie Crombie

Logo of the Ontario Liberal Party since 2024

In December 2023, the party elected Bonnie Crombie, the popular mayor of Mississauga, as its new leader. She promised to rebuild the party and offer a strong alternative to the government.

In the 2025 election, the Liberals won 14 seats. This was enough to regain official party status in the Ontario Legislature, an important step in the party's rebuilding process.

Current Liberal Members of Provincial Parliament

As of the 2025 election, these are the members of the Ontario Liberal Party who have seats in the provincial legislature.

Election Results

This table shows how the Ontario Liberal Party has performed in every provincial election since 1867.

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/−	Position	Status
1867	Edward Blake	77,689	48.8	41 / 82	41	2nd	Coalition
1871		68,366	52.3	43 / 82	2	1st	Majority
1875	Oliver Mowat	90,809	47.6	50 / 88	7	1st	Majority
1879		119,148	48.1	57 / 88	7	1st	Majority
1883		125,017	48.2	48 / 88	9	1st	Majority
1886		153,282	48.4	57 / 90	9	1st	Majority
1890		162,118	49.6	53 / 91	4	1st	Majority
1894		153,826	41.0	45 / 94	8	1st	Minority
1898	Arthur S. Hardy	202,332	47.3	51 / 94	6	1st	Majority
1902	George William Ross	206,709	47.5	50 / 98	1	1st	Majority
1905		198,595	44.6	28 / 98	22	2nd	Opposition
1908	Alexander Grant MacKay	177,719	39.5	19 / 106	9	2nd	Opposition
1911	Newton Rowell	142,245	38.5	22 / 106	3	2nd	Opposition
1914		186,168	37.5	25 / 111	3	2nd	Opposition
1919	Hartley Dewart	301,995	26.9	27 / 111	2	2nd	Opposition
1923	Wellington Hay	203,079	21.8	14 / 111	13	3rd	Opposition
1926	W.E.N. Sinclair	196,813	24.6	15 / 112	1	2nd	Opposition
1929		319,487	31.5	13 / 112	2	2nd	Opposition
1934	Mitchell Hepburn	790,419	50.6	69 / 90	51	1st	Majority
1937		815,275	51.9	65 / 90	4	1st	Majority
1943	Harry Nixon	409,308	31.2	15 / 90	46	3rd	Third party
1945	Mitchell Hepburn	520,491	29.5	14 / 90	1	2nd	Opposition
1948	Farquhar Oliver	523,477	29.8	14 / 90		3rd	Third party
1951	Walter Thomson	559,692	31.5	8 / 90	6	2nd	Opposition
1955	Farquhar Oliver	585,720	33.3	11 / 98	3	2nd	Opposition
1959	John Wintermeyer	689,148	36.6	22 / 98	10	2nd	Opposition
1963		760,806	35.1	24 / 108	2	2nd	Opposition
1967	Robert Nixon	767,391	31.7	28 / 117	4	2nd	Opposition
1971		913,742	27.8	20 / 117	8	2nd	Opposition
1975		1,134,681	34.3	36 / 125	20	3rd	Third party
1977	Stuart Smith	1,050,706	31.4	34 / 125	2	2nd	Opposition
1981		1,072,680	33.7	34 / 125		2nd	Opposition
1985	David Peterson	1,377,965	37.9	48 / 125	14	2nd	Opposition
							Minority
1987		1,788,214	47.3	95 / 130	47	1st	Majority
1990		1,302,134	32.4	36 / 130	59	2nd	Opposition
1995	Lyn McLeod	1,291,326	31.1	30 / 130	6	2nd	Opposition
1999	Dalton McGuinty	1,751,472	39.9	35 / 103	5	2nd	Opposition
2003		2,090,001	46.5	72 / 103	37	1st	Majority
2007		1,867,192	42.2	71 / 107	1	1st	Majority
2011		1,622,426	37.6	53 / 107	18	1st	Minority
2014	Kathleen Wynne	1,862,907	38.6	58 / 107	5	1st	Majority
2018		1,124,381	19.6	7 / 124	51	3rd	No status
2022	Steven Del Duca	1,116,961	23.8	8 / 124	1	3rd	No status
2025	Bonnie Crombie	1,504,688	29.9	14 / 124	6	3rd	Third party

See also

In Spanish: Partido Liberal de Ontario para niños

• List of Ontario general elections
• List of Ontario Premiers
• List of political parties in Ontario
• Leader of the Opposition (Ontario)
• Liberal Party of Canada