TORONTO — Bonnie Crombie resigned Wednesday as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, months after saying she would leave following a tepid leadership vote in the fall.
She initially said she would stay until a successor is chosen, but has now decided on an early exit.
"As we begin a new year, I believe this is the right moment for me and for the party to move forward," Crombie said in a statement.
"I am incredibly proud of the work we have done together to rebuild and renew our party."
The former mayor of Mississauga, Ont., decided in September to step down after receiving just 57 per cent support in a leadership vote at the party's annual general meeting.
"Bonnie stepped forward at a critical moment and played an important role in rebuilding our party, growing our movement and positioning us for the future," said Kathryn McGarry, president of the Ontario Liberal Party, in a statement.
McGarry said the party will select an interim leader shortly as it works on its leadership process.
The party has not said when that leadership contest will take place, but McGarry said a date will be announced soon.
Several potential successors have said they are considering a bid to replace Crombie and her resignation may make them soon declare their intentions with more certainty.
Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith, who finished second to Crombie in the 2023 leadership race, has said he is assembling a team for another potential bid at the provincial party’s top job.
Ontario Liberal caucus members Lee Fairclough, Adil Shamji and Rob Cerjanec have also said they are seriously considering jumping into the leadership race when it is called.
It is an enormous decision, Shamji said in an interview.
"It is a promise of what the party will look like and what the province will look like," he said.
"I need to take the time to make sure that I can make that promise, deliver on it, and be able to make the all-encompassing commitment that it will require of myself, my family, my entire life, so that I can give Ontario Liberal Party members and Ontarians what they deserve."
Fairclough said many people have encouraged her to run due to her leadership experience, including as a hospital president. She also believes it is important to have a strong woman in the race, as well as for the next leader to have a seat in the legislature.
"I’ve entered the 2026 year leaning in to exploring this in much more depth," Fairclough said.
Fellow caucus member Ted Hsu, who placed fourth in the 2023 leadership race, has said he will not run again. Former Liberal Party president Mike Crawley is said to be weighing a run.
The party needs some "fresh blood," said Sharan Kaur, a principal at Navigator and a longtime Liberal strategist.
"I think what the party needs is a vision," she said.
"They need to get excited about someone and right now what I'm seeing based on those who are putting their hand up to run, I don't see that excitement coming up."
Crombie held the job for two years, but lost decisively to Premier Doug Ford in the February 2025 snap election he called more than a year early.
Crombie led the provincial Liberals back to official party status after they won 14 seats last year, increasing the seat count from nine. They managed to finish second in the popular vote, pulling in about 30 per cent of the vote.
But she failed to win her own seat in Mississauga, and the party did not form the official Opposition despite receiving nearly 600,000 more votes than Marit Stiles's New Democrats.
John Fraser, the Liberal parliamentary leader at Queen's Park and a longtime on-again, off-again interim leader, thanked Crombie for winning enough seats to give the Liberals official party status.
"It's a game changer for us," he said. "It allows our colleagues to have research and travel abilities, and that's something we didn't have for seven years, and it made it really hard for us not to have what the other two parties have. Now we have the same thing and that also gives us equal ice time with them in the legislature, which is really important."
Fraser will not be running for leader, but said the next leader must be a "grinder who's willing to travel."
"You can't just go to Thunder Bay once or Timmins once or Ottawa once or Windsor once. There's a lot of travel. There's a lot of hard work to be done," he said. "We need someone to be a good communicator and someone who understands how to be a team player."
Crombie came into the Liberal leadership race with great fanfare and an uncanny ability to get under Ford's skin.
Her leadership campaign received strong support despite a few early missteps. She suggested the idea of doing more Greenbelt land swaps in a Globe and Mail interview before reversing her stance. She also suggested to TVO that she would govern from the right of centre, then walked the statement back.
She beat out Erskine-Smith, Liberal MP and former provincial cabinet minister Yasir Naqvi, and Hsu at an Ontario Liberal leadership convention that went through three rounds of ballot counting.
Crombie contemplated entering a few byelection races, but decided to wait and focus on entering a riding in Peel Region, her home turf.
That opportunity came in 2025. The three-term mayor was confident she could sweep the six seats in Peel Region, but the party failed to win a single seat in the area, including hers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2026.
Liam Casey and Allison Jones, The Canadian Press