TORONTO – Ontario’s auditor general says the provincial government spent the highest recorded amount on advertising last year.
Shelley Spence wrote as part of her annual report today that the government spent $111.9 million on government advertising in the fiscal 2024-25 year.
She says that is $8.4 million more than the previous year, which held the previous record for spending.
Spence says many of the ad campaigns were designed to foster a positive impression of the Progressive Conservatives, rather than give Ontarians information about government programs or services.
The former Liberal government changed advertising rules 10 years ago that drastically reduced the auditor general’s power to veto a publicly funded ad as partisan, and despite promising in 2018 to revert to the former rules, the Tories decided to keep them.
The ads flagged this year by the auditor general that would not have passed muster under the previous rules about partisan advertising include the government’s “It’s happening here” campaigns about the energy, mining and auto manufacturing sectors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 2, 2025.
