With Premier Ford's call for an early election, we are proud to announce the release of our 2025 provincial election priorities — a non-partisan call to action for the next Ontario government. The report and accompanying member toolkit identify four overarching priorities our Association and municipal staff would like to see addressed with the next provincial government's mandate. These priorities focus on establishing a better overall municipal-provincial working relationship to collaborate and co-design effective policies and service delivery solutions for Ontario communities. Functional Foundations is all about building frameworks to support our members and municipal staff in serving their residents and communities to the best of their abilities.
Over the next 20 days of this short campaign period, and following voting day on February 27, we will be advocating for the following priorities to the provincial parties and local leaders:
- Commit to a Social and Economic Prosperity Review
- Provide municipalities with stable, predictable funding and investment that matches the cost and value of service delivery
- Create a modern legislative environment
- Enable a municipal culture that protects and supports staff
This is an opportune moment to build stronger communities and local economies by addressing the systemic issues that have put undue burden on municipalities. These priorities ensure municipalities and their staff are kept top of mind and that they have access to the tools, resources, and support they need to get the job of serving their residents and communities done efficiently and effectively. Our members and municipal staff understand their residents and communities deeply and are uniquely positioned to offer non-partisan, expert advice and support to the next Ontario government.
In addition to the report, we have put together the following member toolkit to help support our advocacy efforts on these provincial election priorities. We encourage members to share this toolkit with their teams, council, and residents to support civic engagement and knowledge-building in their communities.
The toolkit includes:
- A high-level overview of each of our priorities with key messages to support municipal and council communications
- Social media sample messages and graphics to help raise awareness and spread the word about what's important at the local level
- Links to more in-depth toolkits with accompanying resources on the issues of modernizing the Municipal Elections Act, the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and strong mayor powers
Over the next three weeks, we will be adding party briefing notes to this toolkit to help support further analysis and understanding of each of the major party platforms as their campaigns progress.
We hope this toolkit provides you, our members, with information to help support your work and council decision-making.
For more information or questions about this toolkit or our Functional Foundations 2025 provincial election priorities report, please contact our advocacy team.