Canada's most populous province Ontario to vote on Feb. 27

Ontario's legislature will be dissolved on Tuesday and the most populous Canadian province will vote on Feb. 27 to elect its next government, Premier Doug Ford's office said.

Ford said last week he would call an early election, citing the need for a strong mandate to fight tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Ontario's lieutenant governor accepted Ford's request to dissolve the provincial parliament, the premier's office said in a statement. An election had previously been slated for June 2026.

Ford is seeking a third consecutive majority mandate for his right-of-center Progressive Conservatives after sweeping victories in 2022 and in 2018.

Ontario, home to just under 40% of Canada's 40 million people, is the country's manufacturing heartland and would be badly hit if Trump goes ahead with a threat to impose a 25% tariff on all Canadian imports. The province is one of the world's largest sub-sovereign borrowers.