Government of Ontario
The Government of Ontario, or more formally, His Majesty's Government of Ontario is the subnational government in the Canadian province of Ontario responsible for the administration of matters within provincial jurisdiction, as assigned by the Constitution Act, 1867. On matters that are within provincial justification, the Government of Ontario exercises its authorities independently and is not subject to restrain by the federal government.
Depending context, the term Government of Ontario in day-to-day communication usually refers specifically to one of the following:
- The Executive Council of Ontario, more colloquially known as the Ontario cabinet, a group of political ministers of the Crown led by and appointed on the advice of the premier, drawn from the parliamentary caucus of the provincial political party commanding the confidence of and accountable to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
- The Ontario Public Service, the functional workforce of more than 60,000 non-partisan civil servants in various ministries and agencies responsible for the execution of the policy decisions of the cabinet and for the delivery of programs and services that of public interest. The entire organization corporately brands itself as the Government of Ontario
- Queen's Park, the moniker commonly used to refer to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Ontario's parliament, due to its location in said park. Members of the executive council are drawn from the elected members of this legislative body, and the Premier must command the support of the majority of its elected members on an ongoing basis to remain in office.
Authority exercised in the name of the Crown
The powers of the Crown are vested in the monarch and are exercised in the name of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, who is appointed by the governor general, on the advice of the prime minister of Canada. Formally speaking, executive power is vested in the Crown and exercised "in-Council", meaning the premier and ministers forming the executive council advise the lieutenant governor in exercising the royal prerogative and granting royal assent. In reality, the lieutenant governor can be appropriately described as the ceremonial figure head of the government. The Constitution Act, 1867 requires executive power to be exercised only "by and with the Advice of the Executive Council" and Westminster convention dictates that the advice of the executive commanding the confidence of parliament, in this case the elected Legislative Assembly on Ontario, is binding on the crown. The lieutenant governor may only refuse advice if the executive or the premier does not clearly command such confidence, likely in a scenario of a constitutional crisis.
The executive government - premier and the executive council
The term Government of Ontario, in the context of the executive leadership of the provincial administration, refers to the Premier on Ontario, as determine through the electoral process, and the cabinet they select and head. Currently, the government is led by Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford, who received his first electoral mandate and assumed the Ontario premiership in June 2018, and was most recently reelected in February 2025.The executive government, with electoral mandate, directs the non-partisan Ontario Public Service, a workforce of more than 60,000 that staffs the numerous provincial departments, agencies. and crown corporations and perform the day-to-day operation and activities of the Government of Ontario
Premier
The premier of Ontario is the first minister of the Crown. The premier acts as the head of government for the province, chairs and selects the membership of the Cabinet, and advises the Crown on the exercise of executive power and much of the royal prerogative. As premiers hold office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the elected Legislative Assembly, they typically sit as a MPP and lead the largest party or a coalition in the Assembly. Once sworn in, the premier holds office until their resignation or removal by the lieutenant governor after either a motion of no confidence or defeat in a general election.Cabinet membership
In Canada, the Cabinet of provincial and territorial governments are known as an Executive Council.File:Ontario_Government_Buildings.JPG|thumb|The Ontario Government Buildings in downtown Toronto contain the head offices of several provincial ministries.Crown corporations
Ontario Public Service
The Government of Ontario employs 63,000+ public servants in its non-partisan workforce called the Ontario Public Service. The OPS helps the government design and deliver policies and programs. The head of the OPS is the Secretary of Cabinet and each ministry in the OPS has a Deputy Minister. The OPS public servants work in areas like administration, communications, data analytics, finance, information technology, law, policy, program development, service delivery, science and research.Over 80% of the OPS workforce is unionized, which includes the Ontario Public Service Employees Union and the Association of Management, Administrative and Professional Crown Employees of Ontario.
The Government of Ontario is not the same as Broader Public Sector organizations. While both provide goods and services to Ontarians, BPS organizations receive funding from the Government of Ontario, but are not a part of the government themselves. BPS organizations are also subject to legislation and directives.
Public servants who are paid $100,000 or more are subject to the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act. This list is colloquially known as the sunshine list.