Ontario Liberal Leadership Contest Largest in Party’s History

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
​September 11, 2023

TORONTO, ON – The primary deadline to register as a member and be eligible to vote in the 2023 Ontario Liberal Party (OLP) Leadership contest was today at 6:00 PM. Following this deadline, the total number of memberships within the OLP eligible to cast ballots in the November leadership vote is estimated to be over 80,000.

44,000 members were eligible to vote during the 2013 OLP Leadership, and 38,000 members were eligible to vote during the 2020 OLP Leadership.

“I want to thank all of the grassroots Ontarians who have joined our party in record numbers, and each of the leadership candidates and their teams for the hard work they are doing to engage with communities across our province,” said John Fraser, Interim Leader of the OLP. 

The news of record-breaking membership numbers follows the Ontario Liberal Party’s two by-election victories in Scarborough–Centre and Kanata–Carleton.

“Ontarians are fed up with Doug Ford’s billion-dollar backroom deals, and are finding a new home in the Ontario Liberal Party,” added Fraser. “Ontario Liberals will continue to fight for the brighter future that families deserve, and build on this momentum as we prepare for another by-election in Kitchener Centre, and success in 2026.”

Potential members of student clubs on post-secondary campuses have another two weeks, until Tuesday, September 26th, 2023 to register as a member.

Voting will take place via ranked ballots on Saturday, November 25, 2023, and Sunday, November 26, 2023, with ballot counting and the announcement of round-by-round results taking place on Saturday, December 2, 2023.

The first of five debates will take place on Thursday, September 14 at 7:00 PM in Thunder Bay. To learn more about the 2023 Leadership contest, and to watch Thursday’s live stream, visit https://ontarioliberal.ca/leadership/.