Recently released documents show that the advertising expenses reported by The Trillium have surpassed $90 million across five different ministries.
According to records obtained by The Trillium through freedom of information requests, Ontario’s Health Ministry spent over $13.3 million on advertising last year, adding yet another significant amount to the Ford government’s advertising expenses.
Of this total, about $12.1 million was categorized as “media purchases,” while approximately $1.1 million was allocated for planning and production costs.
The spending labeled as “CMOH (Chief Medical Officer of Health) Public Health” made up around $4.52 million of the overall figure. An additional $4.02 million was classified under “Hospitals and Capital,” and $3.81 million fell under “Strategic Policy Planning and FLS.” The smallest portion was $981,000 for “Mental Health and Addictions.”
The documents did not clarify which specific advertising campaigns these expenditures were associated with or name the individual companies and platforms that received funding. In contrast, similar records from other ministries provided a clearer picture of taxpayer-funded advertising expenditures, revealing millions paid to media-buying agency Group M along with firms like Google, Meta, and Cineplex, sometimes naming specific campaigns.
Ongoing scrutiny surrounds the government’s health spending due to issues such as hospital capacity constraints, emergency department closures, and long wait times. At the same time, hospitals throughout Ontario are facing ongoing deficits while trying to meet rising demand for services.
A spokesperson for Minister of Health Sylvia Jones stated, “Advertising remains an important tool for informing families across the province about programs and initiatives available to them.”
“Over the last year, the Ministry of Health has run a number of educational campaigns, including on measles vaccines, organ and tissue donor registration, and cancer screening,” Lily Barnes noted.
Barnes also mentioned that “Government of Ontario ads are reviewed by the auditor general to ensure they are not partisan. All procurement of government advertising is done by non-partisan officials in cabinet office, not by political staff.”
NDP MPP Robin Lennox acknowledged that some health-related s are justified when they provide valuable information like promoting vaccines or new cancer screening programs but raised concerns about generic messaging.
“Seeing a commercial that just says something very generic like ‘healthcare when and where you need it,’ that doesn’t help a single patient in this province, and it’s money that should be instead invested in actual patient care,” Lennox told The Trillium.
Lennox, who is also a family doctor, said that while ad costs may have been unusually high during last year’s measles outbreak for vaccination promotion efforts, she believes overall spending is “above and beyond what we would expect reasonable for any one health issue to drive.”
She urged that funding should be directed towards life-saving treatments like cancer therapy or alleviating pressure on hospitals.
“You can’t say we don’t have enough money to put every single patient in a hospital bed or ensure everyone can fill their prescriptions while at the same time burning millions on promotional advertising,” she emphasized. “Both things can’t be true. It’s about priorities; I think Ontarians would agree they want healthcare dollars invested in health care rather than advertising.”
The newly acquired records add to a series previously obtained by The Trillium illustrating provincial advertising expenses from 2025-26. Across five ministries combined, over $90.17 million was spent last year alone.
For 2025-26 specifically: The Ministry of Energy and Mines disbursed $22.01 million on ads; The Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade spent roughly $24.08 million; The Ministry of Finance allocated more than $21.4 million; while The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming accounted for over $9.38 million.
The current total exceeding $90 million identified by The Trillium is likely to increase since final figures across all government departments aren’t yet confirmed-it already surpasses what was spent on ads in all but two previous years.
The Ford administration recorded an expenditure of $79.36 million on s across all ministries during 2020-21-marking its highest total ever at that point-and followed it up with spending amounts including: $69.33 million in 2021-22, $33.72 million in 2022-23, $103.5 million in 2023-24, and $111.9 million in 2024-25.
Premier Doug Ford has previously defended his government’s use of s as necessary means to keep citizens informed.
This past February Ford remarked regarding ongoing hallway healthcare issues stating “we are pouring money into health care” before adding there’s a need “to start promoting it more.”
“We need to start advertising it and telling people what we’re doing for health care-that’s going to be coming shortly,” he stated.
Each fiscal year Ontario’s auditor general reviews governmental expenditures publishing findings each December thereafter. p>
The auditor’s reports indicate most funds utilized during pandemic-related campaigns were directed toward COVID-19 messaging despite continued investment into health-related ads subsequently without reaching previous levels. p>< p For instance: In 2023-24 alone taxpayers saw an outlay amounting up-to around 103.5 mn dollars-with only one campaign tied directly back-to-health ministry efforts related directly encompassing their "Health Care Services" initiative costing roughly7 mn dollars. p>< p Similarly within next fiscal period wherein2014 -25G0v't boasted higher billboard commercials via corresponding statewide branding resulting again focusing mostly upon aforementioned tasks linking public assistance towards reminding folks how useful modern medicine had become-total sum thus jumped past112mn dollars-though once more limited solely yielding back revenues being reserved primarily staying meant exclusively referenced around said healthcare services assignment bringing us full circle where costs rose again reaching above usual parameters achieving upwards approaching193$700–spanning multiple channels being accessible online-including various sites listing locations offering quality support options wherever necessary! p>< p In her latest reports regarding governmental publicity endeavors-the auditor regularly evaluates whether certain initiatives could fall foul against prior regulations established aimed prohibiting any financial resources diverted towards partisan purposes matching exactly alongside covering essential social needs. p >< p Last year they concluded nothing presented ended up passing eligibility under stricter codes aimed curtailing misuse originating either through applying Government Advertising Act operating previously mandated laws intact well-established guiding principles ensuring transparency maintained frontlines strictly avoiding political bias interfering negatively impacting community interactions positively aiding constituents everywhere unconditionally served ensuring effective outreach continues remaining strong though naturally affected due differing opinions held among parties involved competing interests certainly worth considering moving forward intelligently without deviating too far away from core values preserving integrity paramount always deemed worthy pursuing diligently onward further enhancing progress achieved till now successfully producing desired outcomes collectively fostering growth accomplished together partnering fully engaged working tirelessly improving lives making lasting contributions evident arising benefiting everyone involved directly benefiting society immensely overall!
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