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Led by Doug Ford, the Progressive Conservatives completed a hat-trick of majority wins in Ontario, as legislators of Indian-origin retained the seats they held in the outgoing Assembly.

Except for Bonnie Crombie's defeat as Ontario Liberal leader, there were hardly any surprises in the Feb. 27 elections. Political equations remain more or less the same: The Progressive Conservatives may end up with 82 seats, the NDP 25, the Liberals 14, and the Green Party with two.

Of candidates of Indian descent, Hardeep Grewal, Prabhmeet Singh Sarkaria, Amarjot Singh Sandhu, Deepak Anand and Nina Tangri, all belonging to Progressive Conservatives, retained their seats. Other successful candidates of South Asian descent included Dr. Adil Shamji and Vijay Thanigasalam, who also retained their Don Valley East and Scarborough-Rouge Park seats.

In all, 37 candidates of Indian descent were in the fray. Most newcomers failed to clear the first hurdle of starting a new career in provincial politics.

It was after 143 years that provincial elections were held in the extreme cold weather of February. Weather, however, failed to impact the turnout as the polling percentage rose to 45 percent against 44 percent in 2022. There was, however, a fall both in the number of candidates – 762 against 900 in 2022 - and 20 political parties against 25 in 2025.

The ruling Progressive Conservatives are set to win 82 seats, one short of the 83 mark it had in the 2022 elections. The New Democrats managed to retain its main official opposition party status by leading in 25 ridings, while the Liberals, with a lead in 14 seats succeeded in wresting back official party status after a gap of two Assembly elections.

While Premier Doug Ford of Progressive Conservatives won comfortably from Etobicoke North, Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie lost to Silviya Gualtiers of Progressive Conservatives by 1200 votes. Silviya is incidentally the mother-in-law of Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, and Bonnie Crombie remained the Mayor of Mississauga.

The leader of New Democrats, Marita Stiles, retained her Davenport seat.

Ford went into this snap vote saying he needed the “largest mandate in Ontario’s history,” and the snap 28-day election has barely shifted the balance of power in the provincial legislature, though it did restore the Liberals to official party status.

The Progressive Conservatives were leading or elected in 82 ridings, well past the 63 seats needed to form a majority but one short of the 83-seat total they won in 2022.

“What a night, and what a result,” said a beaming Ford as he thanked his supporters after the results started pouring in.

“Together we have made history, together we have secured a strong, historic, third majority mandate.”

The last time Ontario Conservatives won three straight majority governments was 54 years ago, from 1963 to 1971.

The New Democrats were leading or elected in 25 ridings to retain official opposition status.

“The results are not everything that we hoped for, but the people of Ontario made their choice,” said leader Marit Stiles. “They have re-elected the government, hoping it will help protect them from Donald Trump and his tariffs, and they have entrusted me and my team to do a different but also very important job. Our job is to hold this government to account, and that is the job we are going to do.”

The Liberal party, under new leader Bonnie Crombie, reclaimed party status by almost doubling its seat count from the last election, leading or being elected in 14 ridings. However, Crombie failed to win her seat in Mississauga East-Cooksville, losing to PC candidate Silvia Gualtieri by just over 1,200 votes.

“I know tonight was not exactly the result we were looking for, but you should be very, very proud of what we did tonight,” she told supporters, adding she planned to stay on as party leader.

The Green Party, which had hopes of increasing its membership at Queens Park, managed to return its two ridings, including Leader Mike Schreiner.

“The two Ontario Green MPPs will do our job to hold your government accountable. We will do it as the unofficial official opposition,” said Schreiner. 

Independent Bobbi Ann Brady was re-elected in Haldimand-Norfolk, a riding she won in 2022 to end the Progressive Conservatives’ 27-year hold.