Ontario Liberal Leadership race candidates

By Pepper Parr

May 25th, 2026

BURLINGTON, ON

You might appreciate a look at who might be the next Premier of Ontario.

Navdeep Bains will be seen as the leading contender and the likely winner of the Liberal Party Leadership race.

Navdeep Bains has officially entered the race for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party.  That event takes place on November 21st.

Ajax MPP Rob Cerjanec is said to be poised to enter. Pressure is building on Erskine-Smith to make a decision after his appeal of a Scarborough Southwest nomination loss was rejected.

Leadership hopefuls Lee Fairclough, MPP for Etobicoke—Lakeshore, and policy adviser Dylan Marando have previously enlisted.

Ajax MPP Rob Cerjanec

Lee Fairclough, MPP for Etobicoke—Lakeshore

Dylan Morando Policy Advisor

Bains, who left Rogers Communications as chief corporate affairs officer May 8 to seek the provincial leadership, filed his paperwork with Elections Ontario over the weekend.

On Monday, Elections Ontario confirmed he was the third officially registered candidate to lead the Liberals, naming Suh Kim as his chief financial officer.

Bains, a former industry and science minister in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, launched a “coming soon” website at NavdeepBains.ca moments after Elections Ontario confirmed his candidacy.

He represented the old riding of Mississauga—Brampton South from 2004 to 2011 and, after losing his seat in the Liberals’ 2011 trouncing at the hands of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, he helped Trudeau rebuild the party and take power in 2015, representing Mississauga—Malton and serving in cabinet until 2021.

Formally registering for the leadership is crucial because it allows candidates to accept money from donors in a race with a $150,000 entry fee and <

Nate Erskine-Smith: A total rethink of his political career is needed.

Erskine-Smith’s loss in his challenge of a bruising Scarborough nomination fight followed his allegations of “serious irregularities” in the May 9 vote won by Ahsanul Hafiz, owner of 30 Domino’s Pizza outlets.

Erskine-Smith has not yet commented on his future, but said recently he would quit as an MP after the House of Commons begins its summer recess and noted he was less inclined to seek the provincial leadership after his nomination loss.