Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on Wednesday that the provincial government will move to repeal the regulation that currently allows members of provincial parliament who live outside Toronto to claim hotel accommodations when they are in the city. The proposal was made public at 11:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the change would apply to all out‑of‑town MPPs who travel to Toronto for legislative duties.
Under the existing rule, MPPs whose primary residence is not within the Toronto area are permitted to expense hotel stays while attending sessions, committee meetings, or other official business in the capital. By contrast, legislators who reside in or near Toronto already have the ability to expense hotel accommodations when required, even though many live within commuting distance of the legislature.
The Ford administration’s intention is to eliminate the specific allowance for out‑of‑town members, effectively ending the practice of reimbursing hotel costs for those MPPs. No additional details were provided about a timeline for the repeal or whether any transitional measures would be offered to affected legislators.
The proposed change comes as part of a broader review of expense policies within the provincial government. Officials indicated that the move is intended to align expense rules more closely with the realities of modern commuting and to ensure consistency across all members of the legislative assembly.