Take action: Stop Ford’s Privatization Plans
Doug Ford’s government is taking unprecedented steps to privatize our hydro and water systems, and to end recycling collection as we know it in Toronto—risking the safety of our water, reliability of our electricity, and driving up costs of our services.
Help push back against Ford’s attacks on our city and our public utilities that jeopardize our safety and services. Sign the petition to send your message:
What does this all mean?
New legislation from the Ford government would remove elected officials from Toronto Hydro’s board to attract private investors. It could hand water systems to appointed corporate boards, and it will eliminate the ability for Torontonians to recycle flexible plastics and bundles of cardboard.
Ford claims these changes are necessary because there will be unprecedented demand on both our electrical grid and water systems in years to come. But historical data doesn’t demonstrate the large uptick that Ford anticipates. Instead, it’s likely that the demand on these systems will be driven by AI data centres that are known to need outrageous amounts of water and electricity to operate.
Take action and push back against Ford and his disastrous plans:
Ford’s plan to privatize hydro:
“Critics have said the law amounts to “stealth” privatization: the first steps on a road map to allow institutional investors to take stakes — or even take over — Ontario’s local power distributors [like Toronto Hydro]. And it came at a time soon after local elections, when local councils are unable to muster a collective response.” (The Toronto Star Nov 6 2026) [1]
Doug Ford and his government introduced Bill 140, Build Ontario Faster; legislation that removes powers from elected officials from the governance board of Toronto Hydro.
The Bill is largely based on a report prepared for the provincial government, which sets out recommendations for overhauling the existing governance structure of hydro boards, creating the conditions for private investment and giving massive control to private interests. These changes are claimed to be needed in order to rapidly expand the electrical grid, despite the fact that demand for the energy grid has been flat for several decades. [2]
The report concludes that the current governance and ownership model delivers reliable electricity and is able to meet demand of the population. If the government’s own report says that reliability, transparency, and accountability of the current governance and delivery models are efficient, then why does Ford want to invite private investment and give up control to private interests?
Push back against Ford and stop the corporate take over of our electrical system:
Ford’s plan to privatize water:
Here in Toronto, voters rejected a plan to restructure Toronto Water into a corporation when they defeated Brad Bradford, a plan critics warned would open the door to privatization and give Doug Ford’s government more control over our water, its safety, and your water rates.
But the fight isn’t over.
The Ford government passed the Water and Wastewater Public Corporations Act, opening the door to privatization. Similar to Brad Bradford’s plan, the act lets the province move municipal water systems into corporations run by appointed boards that are less accountable to the public. It also gives the Minister the power to force municipalities to adopt this model.
Now that Bradford won’t be in the Mayor’s office, Ford could use these powers to impose this model on Toronto from Queen’s Park. This move would put our water safety standards at risk, remove oversight from the system, and take away the ability for the city to set rates.
And they’ve already started in Peel Region. The Ford government is restructuring Peel’s water and wastewater system, which will reduce public oversight and take decisions about water rates and infrastructure upgrades away from elected officials. Critics say that, just like Highway 407, this is the first step toward privatizing water in Peel and in municipalities across Ontario.
Help make sure Doug Ford keeps his hands off Toronto’s water system:
Ford’s plan to eliminate recycling:
After the Ford government privatized Blue Bin recycling collection in Toronto, it is now considering eliminating recycling of flexible plastics and bundles of cardboard because of ballooning costs. [4]
“Under the new rules, the province would eliminate curbside pickup for flexible plastics, end the requirement to collect overflow recycling in bales or bags and end delivery of extra bins.” [5] This is an unprecedented change to the way Toronto residents recycle, and it will send more tonnes of recyclable materials to our overflowing landfills.
Ironically, the purpose of privatizing the Blue Bin was to shift recycling costs onto the companies that produce the waste and encourage them to switch to more environmentally friendly packaging. Instead, critics say industry lobbyists have avoided changing their packaging and convinced the government to cut back recycling to save them money. [6]
Toronto’s only landfill is expected to run out of space by 2035. Now is the time for the province and the city to expand recycling, reduce waste and keep more of it out of landfills, not less. [7]
Take action and push back against Doug Ford’s disastrous changes to our recycling system:
Sources:
[1] Toronto Star. “Minister denies new law amounts to ‘stealth privatization’ for Toronto Hydro.” November 6, 2026. https://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/minister-denies-new-law-amounts-to-stealth-privatization-for-toronto-hydro/article_61e8a0ac-69a8-4b99-802f-e2ceecb2361e.html
[2] Government of Ontario. “Panel for Utility Leadership and Service Excellence (PULSE) Report.” October 27, 2026. https://www.ontario.ca/page/panel-utility-leadership-and-service-excellence-pulse-report
[3] Brampton Guardian. “Ontario is restructuring how Peel manages its water services. Critics say it opens the door to privatization — the province disagrees” August 8, 2026. https://www.bramptonguardian.com/news/the-new-url-title-goes-here/article_7086402f-1877-5949-bc48-fcbfab8863a6.html
[4] Toronto Star. “Ford government considering Blue Box overhaul, and may end overflow bag collection, replace Circular Materials.” October 27, 2026. https://www.thestar.com/business/ford-government-considering-blue-box-overhaul-and-may-end-overflow-bag-collection-replace-circular-materials/article_54ede146-e82c-4353-bcc3-342ff1df0398.html
[5] Toronto Star. “Big changes may be coming to the Blue Box program. Here’s how new collection rules could affect you.” October 29, 2026. https://www.thestar.com/business/big-changes-may-be-coming-to-the-blue-box-program-here-s-how-new-collection-rules-could-affect-you/article_b3433dbd-f7cb-4a44-9243-918d7edb00a5.html
[6] Same as [5]; see the note above.
[7] City of Toronto. “Toronto City Council approves next steps for long-term waste management plan.” June 14, 2023. https://www.toronto.ca/news/toronto-city-council-approves-next-steps-for-long-term-waste-management-plan/