Advance polls open for Ontario’s winter election with fewer days due to early vote

Advance polls open Thursday morning for Ontario’s snap election campaign, with election day itself set for next week.

The early campaign means Elections Ontario is offering fewer advance voting opportunities than in previous elections, with those who want to vote early able to cast a ballot on Feb. 20, 21 or 22 at advance polling locations.

A list of locations can be found on the Elections Ontario website.

Ontario is in the midst of its first winter election since 1883, according to Elections Ontario. In that race, like in 2025, the vote was set for Feb. 27.

With the potential for winter storms interrupting voting or freezing temperatures keeping people at home, Elections Ontario said contingencies are in place for the ballot.

“We’re going to work very closely to ensure every Ontarian has an easy way to exercise their right to vote,” Greg Essensa, CEO of Elections Ontario said on the first day of the campaign.

The winter campaign, however, has reduced the number of days of advance polls to three days rather than the 10 that are available in a normal election, something that is written in the legislation governing Ontairo’s elections.

As early voting gets underway, the election campaign is entering its key final stretch, with Progressive Conservative Party Leader Doug Ford’s rivals hoping the race — in which he appears to have a comfortable lead — will tighten.

Over the past week, Ford has taken part in two televised debates with Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie, NDP Leader Marit Stiles and Green Leader Mike Schreiner.

Neither debate provided a campaign-defining moment and both saw Ford’s three opponents, Crombie particularly, try to land blows on the PC leader for his party’s record in government.

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After the second debate, Crombie also asked NDP voters to lend their support to her party to defeat Ford. Stiles dismissed that request as a desperate remove from a leader hoping only to get official party status.

Questions about policy also remain.

With early voting underway, and less than a week until the last day of the campaign, the PCs, NDP and Liberals have not provided a costing of their full plans.

All three have announced some policies — and the NDP has unveiled area-specific platforms — but none have offered a full, costed breakdowns and platforms.

The Ontario Greens released their fully-costed platform last week.

Advance polls open at 10 a.m. on Thursday and will close for the last time at 8 p.m. on Saturday.

The election will be held next Thursday, Feb. 27.

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