Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Stephen Crawford talks to reporters after the release of the Ontario auditor general’s annual report at the Ontario legislature in Toronto, on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan
Ontario is preparing to make the records of Premier Doug Ford and his cabinet members confidential as it “modernizes” freedom-of-information laws, a move that the province’s privacy commissioner warns will undermine public accountability.
However, Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Minister Stephen Crawford insists that his government remains “one of the most transparent governments in the history of Ontario,” pointing to an open data catalogue, a regulator audit, and a step taken eight years ago to disclose financial information from the previous Liberal government.
“We’re very focused on transparency,” he stated during a press conference on Friday.
If passed, the new legislation will mean that records related to the premier, cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants, and their offices will no longer fall under freedom-of-information laws. The public can still request records held by public servants in various government ministries.
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The changes will apply retroactively and could jeopardize several ongoing efforts by news organizations seeking information about issues like the Greenbelt scandal and Ford’s cellphone records-there’s already a court case regarding this matter as well. The government aims to block those records from being released.
Information and privacy commissioner Patricia Kosseim has supported an initial request from for access to the premier’s cellphone records. She mentioned that changing laws retroactively sends a message that “if oversight bodies get in the way, just change the rules.”
“Freedom of information laws exist to provide Ontarians with vital information about how government decisions are made, on what basis, who influenced them, and whether the public interest is being served,” Kosseim wrote in a statement.
“If records about government business can be shielded from scrutiny simply because they sit in a minister’s office or on a staffer’s device or within a political account, public accountability is eviscerated.”
Crawford noted that Ontario is one of only a few places in Canada without “explicit protections” for cabinet ministers’ records or their offices.
“This weakens clarity around protections for cabinet decision-making and undermines candid discussions on critical matters. Ministers need access to candid advice based on evidence,” he said.
Records revealing cabinet discussions or advice given to government are already exempt under current law.
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner stated that this action reflects a government trying to avoid accountability.
“Doug Ford is changing the rules to make it easier to hide the truth,” he wrote in response. “We need more honesty, accountability and transparency from this government-not less.”
Crawford explained that this law was created nearly four decades ago and requires updating.
“The methods of communication were very different back then,” he said.
“We didn’t have smartphones. We didn’t have cyber threats or cloud computing. I mean when this legislation was written it was 10 years before Spice Girls were even known! So that’s how long ago this legislation was created-it didn’t foresee our modern world.”
Crawford did not clarify how smartphones relate directly to restricting access for public inspection but NDP Leader Marit Stiles expressed her belief they want to avoid disclosing things like text messages.
“I think this makes these laws more important than ever,” she said.
“Obviously we don’t all write letters anymore; communication has changed drastically so laws should evolve too-but they should be expanding access instead of taking it away.”
The province will also extend freedom-of-information response timelines from 30 calendar days up to 45 business days-roughly 63 days total.
Crawford reassured that both Ontario’s auditor general as well as its information and privacy commissioner would still have authority over cabinet record production requests.
He stated that shielding cabinet documents aligns with policies found across most other provinces along with federal standards as well.
Proposed cybersecurity measures announced Friday include mandates requiring institutions like hospitals or universities perform cybersecurity assessments every two years while reporting critical incidents back up through state channels; school boards must also alert parents when third-party software utilizes students’ personal details.
This report by The Canadian Press was first March 13, 2026.
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