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This is a 'list of the premiers of the province of Ontario', Canada, since Confederation in 1867. Ontario uses a unicameral Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which the premier is the leader of the party that controls the most seats in the Legislative Assembly. The premier, sometimes called the prime minister, acts as Ontario's head of government, while the Queen of Canada acts as its head of state and is represented by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. The premier picks a cabinet from the elected members to form the Executive Council of Ontario, and presides over that body.
Members are first elected to the legislature during general elections. General elections must be conducted every four years from the date of the last election. An election may also happen if the Governing party loses the confidence of the legislature, by the defeat of a supply bill or tabling of a confidence motion.
This article only covers the time since the Canadian Confederation was created in 1867. For the premiers of Canada West from 1840 to 1867, see List of Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada. The governments of Upper Canada from 1792 to 1840 were mostly controlled by representatives of the Crown.

Contents

Premiers of Ontario since 1867

Notes

References

See also

Premiers of Ontario since 1867

Premier ''(party)''			Period	Assem- blies	Elections (Riding)
	1st	'John Sandfield Macdonald' ''(Liberal-Conservative)''	Jul. 15, 1867 Dec. 20, 1871	... 1st	Designated Jul. 15, 1867 Elected Sep. 3, 1867 '(Coalition)'[1] (Cornwall)
	2nd	'Edward Blake' ''(Liberal)''	Dec. 20, 1871 Oct. 25, 1872	2nd ...	Elected Mar. 21, 1871 (Bruce South) Resigned (moved to federal politics) Oct. 25, 1872[2]
	3rd	'Sir Oliver Mowat' ''(Liberal)''	Oct. 25, 1872 Jul. 21, 1896	... 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th ...	Party leader: Oct. 25, 1872 (Oxford North) Re-elected Jan. 18, 1875 (Oxford North) Re-elected Jun. 5, 1879 (Oxford North) Re-elected Feb. 27, 1883 (Oxford North) Re-elected Dec. 28, 1886 (Oxford North) Re-elected Jun. 5, 1890 (Oxford North) Re-elected Jun. 26, 1894 (Oxford North) Resigned (Retired) Jul. 21, 1896
	4th	'Arthur Hardy' ''(Liberal)''	Jul. 21, 1896 Oct. 20, 1899	... 9th ...	Party Leader Jul. 21, 1896 (Brant South) Re-elected Mar. 1, 1898 (Brant South) Resigned (Retired) Oct. 20, 1899

|-
|
||5th
|'Sir George William Ross'
''(Liberal)''
| Oct. 20, 1899
Feb. 8, 1905
| ...
10th
| Party Leader Oct. 20, 1899 (Middlesex West)
Re-elected May 29, 1902 (Middlesex West)
|-
|

||6th
|'Sir James Whitney'
''(Conservative)''
| Feb. 8, 1905
Sep. 25, 1914
| 11th
12th
13th
14th
...
| Elected Jan. 25, 1905 (Dundas)
Re-elected Jun. 8, 1908 (Dundas)
Re-elected Dec. 11, 1911 (Dundas)
Re-elected Jun. 29, 1914 (Dundas)
Died in office Sep. 25, 1914
|-
|

||7th
|'Sir William Hearst'
''(Conservative)''
| Oct. 2, 1914
Nov. 14, 1919
| ...
|Party Leader Oct. 2, 1914 (Sault Ste. Marie)
|-
|

||8th
|'Ernest Drury'
''(Farmer)''
| Nov. 14, 1919
Jul. 16, 1923
| 15th
| Elected Oct. 20, 1919 '(Coalition)'^[3] (Halton)^[4]
|-
|

||9th
|'George Howard Ferguson'
''(Conservative)''
| Jul. 16, 1923
Dec. 16, 1930
| 16th
17th
18th
...
| Elected Jun. 25, 1923 (Grenville)
Re-elected Dec. 1, 1926 (Grenville)
Re-elected Oct. 30, 1929 (Grenville)
Resigned (changed jobs) Dec. 16, 1930
|-
|

||10th
|'George Stewart Henry'
''(Conservative)''
| Dec. 16, 1930
Jul. 10, 1934
| ...
|Party Leader Dec. 16, 1930 (York East)
|-
|
||11th
|'Mitchell Hepburn'
''(Liberal)''
| Jul. 10, 1934
Oct. 21, 1942
| 19th
20th
...
| Elected Jun. 19, 1934 (Elgin)
Re-elected Oct. 6, 1937 (Elgin)
Resigned (Retired) Oct. 21, 1942
|-
|

||12th
|'Gordon Daniel Conant'
''(Liberal)''
| Oct. 21, 1942
May 18, 1943
| ...
...
|Party Leader Oct. 21, 1942 (Ontario)
Resigned (Retired) May 18, 1943
|-
|
||13th
|'Harry Nixon'
''(Liberal)''
| May 18, 1943
Aug. 17, 1943
| ...
| Party Leader May 18, 1943 (Brant)
|-
|

||14th
|'George Drew'
''(Progressive Conservative)''
| Aug. 17, 1943
Oct. 19, 1948
| 21st
22nd
23rd
...
| Elected Aug. 4, 1943 '(Minority)' (High Park)
Re-elected Jun. 4, 1945 (High Park)
Re-elected Jun. 7, 1948 (none^[5])
Resigned (Retired) Oct. 19, 1948
|-
|

||15th
|'Thomas Kennedy'
''(Progressive Conservative)''
| Oct. 19, 1948
May 4, 1949
| ...
...
| Party Leader Oct. 19, 1948 (Peel)
Resigned (Retired) May 4, 1949
|-
|

||16th
|'Leslie Frost'
''(Progressive Conservative)''
| May 4, 1949
Nov. 8, 1961
| ...
24th
25th
26th
...
| Party Leader May 4, 1949 (Victoria)
Re-elected Nov. 22, 1951 (Victoria)
Re-elected Jun. 9, 1955 (Victoria)
Re-elected Jun. 11, 1959 (Victoria)
Resigned (Stepped down) Nov. 8, 1961
|-
|
||17th
|'John Robarts'
''(Progressive Conservative)''
| Nov. 8, 1961
Mar. 1, 1971
| ...
27th
28th
...
| Party Leader Nov. 8, 1961 (London North)
Re-lected Sep. 25, 1963 (London North)
Re-elected Oct. 17, 1967 (London North)
Resigned (Retired) Mar. 1, 1971
|-
|
||18th
|'Bill Davis'
''(Progressive Conservative)''
| Mar. 1, 1971
Feb. 8, 1985
| ...
29th
30th
31st
32nd
...
| Party Leader Mar. 1, 1971 (Peel North)
Re-elected Oct. 21, 1971 (Peel North)
Re-elected Sep. 18, 1975 '(Minority)' (Brampton)
Re-elected Jun. 9, 1977 '(Minority)' (Brampton)
Re-elected Mar. 19, 1981 (Brampton)
Resigned (Retired) Feb. 8, 1985
|-
|
||19th
|'Frank Miller'
''(Progressive Conservative)''
| Feb. 8, 1985
Jun. 26, 1985
| ...
33rd
...
| Party Leader Feb. 8 1985 (Muskoka)
Re-elected May 2, 1985 '(Minority)' (Muskoka)
Resigned '(The Accord)'^[6] Jun. 26, 1985
|-
|

||20th
|'David Peterson'
''(Liberal)''
| Jun. 26, 1985
Oct. 1, 1990
| ...
34th
| Designated Jun. 26, 1985 '(Minority)' (London Centre)
Re-elected Sep. 10, 1987 (London Centre)
|-
|

||21st
|'Bob Rae'
''(NDP)''
| Oct. 1, 1990
Jun. 26, 1995
| 35th
| Elected Sep. 6, 1990 (York South)
|-
|
||22nd
|'Mike Harris'
''(Progressive Conservative)''
| Jun. 26, 1995
Apr. 14, 2002
| 36th
37th
...
| Elected Jun. 8, 1995 (Nipissing)
Re-Elected Jun. 3, 1999 (Nipissing)
Resigned (Retired) Apl. 15, 2002
|-
|
||23rd
|'Ernie Eves'
''(Progressive Conservative)''
| Apr. 15, 2002
Oct. 22, 2003
| ...
| Party Leader March 23, 2002 (Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey)
|-
|

||24th
|'Dalton McGuinty'
''(Liberal)''
| Oct. 23, 2003
Incumbent as of

| 38th
| Elected Oct. 2, 2003 (Ottawa South)
|}

Notes

1. Macdonald led a Coalition between the Liberal-Conservative Party and the Liberal Party.
2. Resigned to lead the federal Liberal Party when the "dual mandate" rule was abolished
3. Drury led a Coalition between the United Farmers Party and the Labour Party.
4. Drury did not win a seat in the legislature until a 1920 by-election.
5. Drew won the election for his party, but lost his own seat in High Park and resigned rather than seeking a bi-election.
6. Miller's Progressive Conservatives had more seats than Peterson's Liberals in the 33rd legislature, but Peterson had the formal support of the NDP through a signed accord. The two parties defeated Miller with a Motion of no confidence immediately after the election and formed government under Peterson without an official coalition.

References

★

★ Historical Records Government of Ontario

See also

★ List of Leaders of the Opposition in Ontario
For more lists of this type, see Lists of incumbents.