Ontario spent highest-ever amount on government ads: AG [Video]

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government spent three times the amount of money on government advertising in the last fiscal year as it did the year before – the highest amount ever – and most campaigns were more partisan than informational, the auditor general said Tuesday.

Auditor general Shelley Spence wrote in her annual report that for the year ending March 31, Ontario spent $103.5 million on government advertising, more than three times the $33.7 million it spent in the previous year.

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The two biggest campaigns focused on promoting Ontario’s economy, and accounted for 65 per cent of total ad spending. The largest campaign, with a price tag of $43.2 million in the 2023-24 fiscal year, included four different pillars.

One of those pillars, a ubiquitous campaign using the tag line, “What if I told you that you already live here,” ran during NHL games and the Super Bowl in expensive …