The Green Party of Ontario (GPO; , PVO) is a political party in Ontario, Canada. It has run candidates in every Ontario election since 1985, and has contested every riding in elections since 2007.

The party's support peaked in the 2007 election at 8% of the popular vote, but dropped in the following election in 2011. In the four general elections since, its vote share has hovered around the 5% level. In the 2025 election, Green Party candidates were elected in two ridings. The party ran a full slate of candidates including over 50% women for the first time. Schreiner was excluded from the televised leaders' debates, which led to an unsuccessful campaign by Fair Debates to encourage media to reverse the decisions.

alt=Headshot of Mike Schreiner, leader of the Green Party of Ontario and MPP for Guelph.|thumb|300x300px|In 2018, party leader [[Mike Schreiner became the first Green MPP elected to the Ontario Legislature.]]

In May 2018, a month ahead of that year's general election, the Toronto Star editorial board endorsed Schreiner as the best candidate in Guelph and said that he was "the most forthright leader in the campaign for the 7 June Ontario election." Schreiner was also endorsed by the Guelph Mercurys editorial board in an op-ed, "Mike Schreiner is the candidate most worthy of representing Guelph provincially," citing ten reasons to vote for Schreiner.

Schreiner's campaign proved successful, and he was elected as the first ever Green MPP in Ontario history. He captured 45 per cent of the vote in the Guelph riding, more than doubling the previous percentage and nearly tripling his raw vote numbers.

2022–2023: Expanding

alt=Aislinn Clancy and Mike Schreiner address the media from the Queen's Park Media Studio|thumb|300x300px|Deputy leader [[Aislinn Clancy was elected in 2023.]]Schreiner was re-elected in the 2022 provincial election and was again the only Green candidate elected. The party narrowly lost in Parry Sound—Muskoka, a riding that had been held by the Progressive Conservatives since its establishment in 1999. Green candidate Matt Richter placed second to PC candidate Graydon Smith, losing by just over 2,100 votes.

The party elected its second MPP in 2023. Green candidate and deputy leader Aislinn Clancy was elected in a 2023 by-election in Kitchener Centre, doubling Green representation in the Legislature. Clancy won just under 48% of the vote, solidly beating the NDP candidate. The seat had previously been in New Democratic hands since 2018.

Policies

The Green Party of Ontario shares the values identified by the Global Greens: participatory democracy, nonviolence, social justice, sustainability, respect for diversity and ecological wisdom. The party describes itself as socially progressive, environmentally focused and fiscally responsible.

In the lead-up to the 2022 election, the party released policy papers focused on housing, climate change and mental health. Its 2022 platform identified three priorities: a caring society, focussed on improving equitable healthcare, education, and social services; connected communities, focussed on tackling housing affordability by building more infill development, strengthening protections for renters and addressing speculation in the housing market; and new climate economy, focused on achieving net-zero emissions by 2045 by replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, growing green jobs and protecting the environment.

Housing

The party advocates for more permissive zoning laws that allow the construction of missing-middle and midrise housing. It argues that infill development is more environmentally friendly and cost-effective than sprawl development. and for the province to partner with non-profit and co-operative housing providers to build affordable non-market homes.

Climate

The Green Party supports phasing out fossil fuels and moving to renewable energy sources. Its platform included a number of measures to increase the affordability and accessibility of electric vehicles, retrofit homes and businesses to increase energy efficiency, and phase out fossil fuels to reach net zero by 2045. It has also called for an end to the province's offshore wind moratorium in order to increase access to renewable power.

Greens advocate for stronger protections to wetlands and agricultural land.

Health

The Greens' healthcare policies are rooted in prevention, including increasing upstream investments in the social determinants of health like social isolation, housing insecurity and poverty, as well as partnering with the federal government to implement universal pharmacare and dental care programs.

Electoral reform

The GPO is a strong supporter of electoral reform. In its 2022 election platform, it called for the creation of a "diverse, randomly selected Citizens Assembly on electoral reform" to provide recommendations on how to modernise the Ontario electoral system to better reflect voters' democratic will.

References

</references>

  • A History of the Green Party in Ontario, by Frank de Jong