Ontario premier Doug Ford has triggered an early election in the province, saying he needs a strong mandate to take on the tariff threat.

TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford officially set a provincial election in motion Tuesday for Feb. 27, more than a year before the next fixed election date. The election had been set for June 2026, but Ford said he needs a new mandate to deal with four years of a Donald Trump presidency in the United States.

Doug Ford, Ontario’s Conservative leader, has recently said that President Trump was “going to try to devastate our country” with a plan to impose tariffs on Canadian exports.

The premier of Ontario, Canada's most populous province, said on Friday he would call an early election, citing the need for a strong mandate to fight against tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump pledged in his inaugural address that tariffs would be coming in a speech in which he promised a golden era for America. He later said Canada and Mexico could be hit with the tariffs as soon as Feb. 1, though he signed an executive order requesting a report coordinated by the Secretary of Commerce by April. 1.

The Ontario premier says he's ready for a street fight if Trump makes good on threats of a trade war with Canada

Chrystia Freeland, the former finance minister who is running to replace Justin Trudeau as Canada's prime minister, says her country needs to release a “retaliation list” of goods the country would target if U.

The leader of Canada’s most populous province says he will be calling an election in Ontario because he says he needs a mandate to fight U.S.