Ontario’s auditor general has determined that the province’s $2.5 billion Skills Development Fund operated without fair or transparent processes, with more than $100 million flowing to clients of Premier Doug Ford’s campaign manager.
Auditor General Shelley Spence released findings on October 1 showing that non-partisan ministry staff gave poor, low, or medium rankings to over half of funded projects — totaling $742 million — while 670 highly ranked applications got nothing.
Labour Minister David Piccini’s office directly selected grant recipients but often failed to document why it chose low-scoring applicants over better-rated ones, according to the report.
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The audit revealed a pattern of successful lobbying. 64 low- and medium-ranked applicants who hired lobbyists secured $126 million in grants. Kory Teneycke’s Rubicon Strategy — Teneycke managed Ford’s election campaigns — had clients who won more than $100 million, nearly triple what clients of the next most successful lobbying firm won.
Two former chiefs of staff to the premier’s nephew, Michael Ford, also had lobbying clients that won millions in grants after leaving government service.
The auditor cited examples, including one grant that would train just the one applicant themself, and another low-scoring project that duplicated existing programs.
Opposition leaders drew parallels to the Greenbelt scandal, where government land decisions favored connected developers. NDP Leader Marit Stiles accused the government of rewarding conservative insiders with taxpayer money.
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