The Progressive Conservatives spent more on public advertising in the run-up to February’s snap election than any other Ontario government in history, the auditor general has found, pushing commercials with a message that “promotes the governing party.”

Auditor General Shelley Spence’s annual review of advertising found, in the fiscal year ending in March 2025, the province spent $111.9 million on advertising — $8.4 million more than the year before, which had already set a record.

“This most recent fiscal year saw the highest ever spending on government advertising and included the election in February 2025,” Spence wrote in her report published Tuesday.

The largest campaigns run by the government over the past year were its U.S. partnership commercial ads, which ran across major Ame

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