TORONTO — Premier Doug Ford backed a letter from Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack telling Ontario’s 444 municipalities Wednesday to “get with the program” on Buy Canadian purchasing or risk losing provincial funding, as Queen’s Park tightens the screws on local procurement in the middle of the U.S. tariff fight.Flack sent the letter telling every city, town and township that failure to prioritize Ontario and Canadian goods and services “will force us to reconsider provincial funding made available to municipalities, in addition to other consequences under the Buy Ontario Act.” Ford posted the letter himself and wrote, “Buy Ontario. Buy Canadian. For governments across Ontario, it’s not an option. It’s the law.”Flack’s letter notes that Ontario municipalities spend more than $22 billion a year on goods and services, and Queen’s Park wants that money steered first to Ontario suppliers, then to the rest of Canada, before anything is sourced abroad. Townships have been directed to review supply chains, procurement policies and upcoming purchases to see what can be swapped for domestic alternatives.The Buy Ontario Act passed in late 2025. The Municipal Buy Ontario Procurement Directive took effect April 13 and extended the same priority rules to municipalities, local boards and municipal services corporations.Wednesday’s letter is the first time the province has openly tied compliance to the threat of cutting cash..Ford, speaking at a separate event, said Toronto has already received “more money than they’ve ever seen in their lives,” putting the figure at “over $9 billion,” and told cities to “buy Ontario first, buy anywhere else in Canada if you can’t buy it in Ontario.”Flack framed the warning as a wartime measure. “In the face of these unprecedented economic attacks against our province and country, we all have a responsibility to do everything within our control to protect our workers and communities,” he wrote.The letter lands as Ottawa’s counter-tariffs on U.S. goods are already on store shelves and as President Donald Trump’s threatened 50% auto and steel duties hang over 2027. Ford has spent the past two weeks pitching a Team Canada line while shuffling cabinet and expanding tariff-relief programs for factories. Using municipal funding as enforcement puts every council — from Toronto to the smallest township — under the same rule.
