How Ontario Liberals hope to exit political wilderness when they elect new leader in November

Ontario Liberals will choose their next leader this November, but the interim chief says the party must spend the next nine months doing the hard work of a broader rebuild after three consecutive electoral defeats.

The provincial Liberal executive released rules for their contest earlier this week and the party will select its next leader on Nov. 21.

The party will use a one-member one-vote, ranked ballot system to elect the winner. Twelve days of online voting will take place ahead of the leadership convention, a first for the party. 

“It's a different race from the last two times,” interim leader John Fraser said.

“This an opportunity to build and to grow the party, and to say to people, ‘come on in, be part of the change.’”

The Ontario Liberals have been in the political wilderness since their defeat in the 2018 election, which saw them reduced to 10 seats and lose official party status. That demotion meant the party did not have access to taxpayer funding afforded to officially recognized parties in the Ontario legislature to hire staff and pay for research.

It also decimated the party apparatus across the province, something that has hindered their efforts to be competitive in the last two elections. This will be the party’s third leadership race since 2020.

It comes after former leader Bonnie Crombie resigned from the post following a poor showing in a party review at a convention last September. A campaign debrief document released just before that vote was critical of Crombie and her team's strategy during the 2025 election that saw Premier Doug Ford win a third-straight majority. 

A three-member committee dissected the party's finish, lauding the improved seat count and work to regain official party status. They also criticized multiple aspects of the campaign team's strategy and communications. And they also highlighted a fundamental weakness when it comes to mounting successful local campaigns — a lack of party volunteers in many ridings.

“We have real concerns that we are losing engagement and support from our volunteers across Ontario,” the report said, noting that the party’s base is aging.

Fraser said the leadership race will give candidates months to sign up new members from across the province. The goal is to build up support in ridings outside of places where the Liberals had strong showings, like Toronto and Ottawa, he added.

“How do we help the people who are Liberals there, who've been working really hard, sometimes with their light under a bushel basket because they're in a tough riding,” he said. “That's what the race is really all about.”

The deadline for candidates to jump into the race is July 31. The cut-off to sign up new regular party members is Sept. 7 and students is Sept. 25.

The Liberals have struggled to come together and find the right message to appeal to voters, said Trent University political science professor Cristine de Clercy.