The government is committed to protecting Ontario communities from growing economic threats by implementing initiatives to enhance border security, clean up the streets and protect the province’s neighbourhoods from dangerous criminals. These efforts include fighting illegal border crossings and cross-border trade in guns and drugs, as well as keeping criminals behind bars.
Ontario continues to take deliberate steps to create a modern, stable justice system and increase its capacity by making targeted, multi-ministry investments across all areas of the justice sector, including community safety and policing, courts and correctional services.
Protecting Ontario’s Borders
The government is continuing to enhance security at all points of entry, including land and water. This includes combatting cross-border illegal activity, such as smuggling of dangerous and illegal drugs, as well as illegal border crossings and smuggling of illegal guns into Ontario from the United States.
In January 2025, Ontario launched Operation Deterrence, the government’s framework for enhanced security at the border and tackling criminal activity harming people on both sides of the border. The strategy was developed through the joint efforts by multiple provincial ministries and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) along with federal, First Nations, municipal and U.S. partners.
Since Operation Deterrence was launched in January 2025, there has been over 39,000 hours of ground patrols in key border areas, over 2,500 hours of aviation patrols and drone flights, more than 41,000 vehicle inspections resulting in thousands of charges, and the seizure of firearms, drugs, stolen vehicles, as well as stopping illegal border-crossing attempts and combatting human trafficking. The government is investing an additional $113 million over the next three years to continue to support enforcement efforts to help keep Ontario’s borders secure.
Operation Deterrence unites the full range of provincial resources under an innovative strategy, above and beyond existing and ongoing measures, to protect Ontario−U.S. borders and combat cross-border illegal activities, ensuring the safety, sovereignty, and economic prosperity of the people of Ontario.
Fighting Crime with the Expanded Joint Air Support Unit
Ensuring police services have the resources to respond to major incidents and urgent situations is a priority for the government. This is why Ontario is investing $57 million for two new H‑135 helicopters to support the Niagara Regional Police Service and the Windsor Police Service with increased patrols, security and enforcement at key entry points at the U.S. border.
This additional investment builds on the government’s previous announcement in 2024 to provide $134 million for five police helicopters for use in the GTA and Ottawa, bringing the total number of Joint Air Support Unit helicopters to seven. Equipped with the latest technology, the helicopters will help protect Ontario’s borders and keep highways and roadways safe from violent carjackings, auto theft, street racing and impaired driving.
Combatting and Preventing Auto Theft
Auto theft remains a serious problem impacting communities across Ontario. To combat auto theft, the government is collaborating with municipalities and the federal government, providing funding to police services and raising public awareness of auto theft prevention measures.
Through the Preventing Auto Theft (PAT) Grant, the government continues to support police services in prevention and public awareness initiatives to combat auto theft. As previously announced, the PAT Grant will provide $6 million in 2025–26 to police services for projects that feature new and enhanced crime‐fighting measures focused on prevention, detection, analysis and enforcement. This funding will support Ontario in combatting and preventing auto theft by targeting organized crime networks and ensuring that those responsible are brought to justice, to keep people and communities safe.
The government is also proposing new legislation that would amend the Highway Traffic Act to give police the authority to search for and seize electronic devices that are intended to be used for vehicle theft. The change would provide law enforcement with stronger tools to keep keyless devices off the streets and out of the hands of would-be criminals.
In addition, the province is permanently establishing a dedicated Major Auto Theft Prosecution Response Team to focus on crime hotspots across Ontario, such as Ottawa, Toronto, Brampton, Newmarket, Durham, London and Windsor. The team will provide legal advice and prosecutorial support to police services and help dismantle organized crime networks, holding offenders accountable and cracking down on carjackings and home invasions.
These measures will support law enforcement in safeguarding the streets and make it easier to stop car thieves in their tracks.
Fighting Guns, Gangs and Violence
Gang members are criminals who put the lives of the people of Ontario at risk. A variety of criminal offences are consistently linked to gang activity, including property offences, drug trafficking and importation, fraud, robberies, assaults with weapons, homicides, auto theft, and human trafficking.
This is why the government is continuing its partnership with the federal government, which is providing Ontario with $121 million from 2023 to 2028 to fight gun and gang violence. This funding provides resources to prosecutors, the OPP, municipal and First Nation police services, community organizations and school boards across the province to conduct investigations and undertake measures focused on preventing, monitoring, and fighting gun- and gang-related violence and organized crime, as well as assisting victims and survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and human trafficking.
This funding is helping keep people safe and criminals off the street. For example, since 2019–20, Ontario’s Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy resulted in seizures of over 1,000 firearms, more than 2,000 vehicles, $24 million in currency and more than 23 tonnes of illicit drugs with a street value of approximately $570 million, resulting in over 18,000 charges.
Putting More Repeat Violent Offenders Behind Bars
Ontario is taking action to protect communities, support victims of crime and keep people safe by making investments to prevent repeat and violent offenders from committing serious crimes while out on bail.
Through the Bail Compliance and Warrant Apprehension (BCWA) Grant program, the government continues to support police services in ensuring that high-risk and repeat violent offenders comply with their bail conditions. As previously announced, the BCWA Grant will provide $8.3 million in 2025–26 to police services to establish dedicated bail compliance and warrant apprehension teams to monitor high-risk individuals. In addition, the province is providing new technology to police services, as part of a provincewide bail compliance monitoring system.
By giving police the tools they need to track and arrest offenders who violate their bail conditions, the government is helping to ensure Ontario is one of the safest jurisdictions in Canada.
Getting Tough on Crime to Protect Communities from Criminals
The government is proposing changes to improve public safety by getting tough on crime and putting violent, repeat offenders behind bars. The proposed changes will strengthen the courts’ ability to deal with serious crimes by streamlining the judicial selection process and allocating additional judges to the Ontario Court of Justice, as well as creating dedicated prosecution teams for serious crimes.
These changes include a new pool-based recommendation process for judicial positions that would allow the government to speed up appointments to the Ontario Court of Justice. These changes would also require the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee to consider criteria set out by the Attorney General when reviewing and evaluating judicial candidates.
Building on the government’s previous announcement, up to 10 additional judges will be allocated over the next three years, bringing the total number of judges up to 52 to ensure courts keep pace with a growing number of complex cases and address the existing backlog of criminal cases.
In addition, the government will strengthen its ability to prosecute serious crimes, including through the introduction of a new cybercrime and cryptocurrency prosecution team that will support police investigations and prosecute major cybercrime cases.
Specialized prosecution teams will hold offenders accountable, while stronger and more efficient courts will support victims of crime and keep communities safe.
Training More Police Officers to Protect Communities
There is a growing need for police officers across the province. This is why the government is increasing enrolment in the Basic Constable Training (BCT) program and eliminating tuition fees to support new recruits. The BCT program is now able to accommodate an additional 80 recruits per year for a total of 2,080 annually, with priority being given to small, medium-sized, and First Nation police services. The government is also providing $8.8 million in 2025−26 to support a one-time additional intake of up to 300 recruits in the Basic Constable Training Program.
By expanding the BCT program, the government underscores its commttment to strengthening public safety through the development of a highly trained and responsive police service.
Supporting Policing Services in First Nation Communities
The government is working with First Nation communities across the province to strengthen First Nations police services under the umbrella of the Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA) and keep these communities safe and protected.
Through the CSPA and its regulations, the government has established a legislative framework that modernizes and improves Ontario’s approach to policing and community safety, including improving oversight and accountability of the policing sector.
In December 2024, the government announced a $514 million investment to support the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service Board (NAPSB) as it became the first-ever First Nations police service to opt in to the provincial framework for policing under the CSPA. The funding will allow the NAPSB to increase its officer complement to over 500 officers that serve 34 of the most remote First Nation communities in Ontario.
By joining the provincial framework for policing, the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service is also taking an important step forward towards providing culturally appropriate policing services, with the support of provincial legislation that will ensure adequate and effective policing service standards for remote and Northern communities.
Building More Capacity in Provincial Jails
The government is adding more beds to several adult correctional facilities, marking an important milestone in Ontario’s plan to ensure sufficient jail capacity in both the short and long term.
To address immediate needs, the government is repurposing and re-opening the Regional Intermittent Centre at the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre in London and the Toronto Intermittent Centre at the Toronto South Detention Centre, adding up to 430 new beds to accommodate minimum- and medium-risk inmates.
The government is also expanding existing facilities and building new ones to address longer-term needs, including:
- Adding 66 new beds at the Quinte Detention Centre, bringing the institution’s capacity to over 300 beds;
- Building a new Brockville Correctional Complex with 250 beds to replace an outdated 54‑bed facility;
- Adding 25 new beds to accommodate a women’s treatment unit at St. Lawrence Valley Correctional and Treatment Centre; and
- Constructing the new Eastern Ontario Correctional Complex, which will result in 235 beds.
Increasing jail capacity will be supported by hiring additional correctional staff, which would include nurses, correctional officers, and support staff.
The government is working to identify further medium- and long-term opportunities to increase corrections capacity. This will help frontline staff to do their jobs safely and effectively and keep violent and repeat offenders off the streets.
Strengthening Supports to Combat Hate
Communities should be able to establish safe and inclusive environments for everyone in Ontario, regardless of their background, religion or culture. This is why the government is investing $12.8 million in 2025–26 to continue the Anti-Hate Security and Prevention Grant, which will help faith‑based and cultural organizations implement measures to ensure their community spaces remain safe and secure. Grant funding can be used for measures such as hiring security staff, surveillance cameras, security assessments, cybersecurity and building repairs.
Supporting Human Trafficking Survivors to Rebuild Their Lives
The provincial government recognizes the impact coerced debt has on the safety and livelihood of survivors of human trafficking. Coerced debt is a financial abuse strategy where debt is incurred fraudulently under the name and identity of the victim by the traffickers. This can reduce victims’ access to housing and loans and affect their ability to move on with their lives.
In response, Ontario is investing an additional $1 million over three years to support Victim Services Toronto’s Reclaim Project, which helps survivors of human trafficking by working with Canadian creditors to remove coercive debt from the survivor’s name. This investment will complement Ontario’s recent legislation to help protect victims from coerced debts incurred by traffickers and support economic empowerment and long-term recovery for survivors.
Restoring Safety to Parks and Public Spaces
The government is committed to addressing the challenges encampments pose to public safety across Ontario. This means ensuring that the people of Ontario can safely use shared public spaces, such as local parks and playgrounds, while providing the right supports to people facing homelessness, addictions, and mental health challenges.
To help municipalities provide vulnerable people living in encampments with appropriate short- and long-term housing alternatives, the government invested $75.5 million in 2024–25, including:
- $50 million for ready-to-build affordable housing projects, to help projects near completion but in need of additional targeted funding to open their doors faster;
- $20 million to expand shelter capacity and create additional temporary accommodation spaces; and
- $5.5 million to top up the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit to immediately free up emergency shelter spaces for people living in encampments by helping people living in shelters move into longer-term housing.
To help clear parks and public spaces of encampments, the government has introduced legislation that, if passed, will provide municipalities and police with new enforcement tools, including allowing officers to direct individuals to stop using illegal substances or to leave public spaces. Those who do not comply could be issued tickets or arrested, and if found guilty, could face fines of up to $10,000 or up to six months behind bars.
This legislation will also increase penalties that may be applied by the court during sentencing for people who deliberately and continually trespass. For minor or non-violent drug crimes, the government is exploring new judicial approaches that could provide the option of rehabilitation as an alternative to incarceration.
These new enforcement tools and investments will ensure that the people of Ontario can safely use shared public spaces. The additional funds will also create more emergency shelter and affordable housing spaces to help vulnerable people move out of crisis situations and into stable accommodations.
Expanding Homelessness Hubs and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hubs
The government is protecting the safety of children and families while improving access to recovery and treatment services. The Ontario Legislature passed the Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act, 2024 and the Community Care and Recovery Act, 2024, which approved the transition of nine drug injection sites that are located within 200 metres of schools and licensed child care centres into Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs. As of April 1, 2025, the nine drug injection sites, located in Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Kitchener, Guelph, and Thunder Bay, were successfully transitioned and started operating as HART Hubs. Building on supports provided in 2024–25, this brings the government’s total investment to approximately $550 million over four years to support 28 new HART Hubs across the province.
HART Hubs reflect regional priorities by connecting people with complex needs to comprehensive treatment and preventative services. These include a range of services to meet local needs such as primary care, mental health services including addiction care and support, social services, and employment support. HART Hubs will also add an estimated 560 highly supportive housing units, in addition to addiction recovery and treatment beds, that will help thousands of people each year transition to more stable long-term housing.
The government is also investing more than $303 million over the next three years to stabilize the community-based mental health and addictions services sector. This commitment will provide a four per cent increase in the sector’s base funding to support community-led and delivered mental health programs.
Fighting Money Laundering
As part of the plan to protect Ontario borders and communities, the government is developing a comprehensive provincial strategy to combat money laundering and other illicit activities that support organized crime and threaten border security.
As part of this strategy, Ontario is committed to continue exploring options to establish a registry for business corporations to file prescribed beneficial ownership information, in alignment with the federal government. Since January 1, 2023, these corporations have been required to maintain beneficial ownership information at their registered office. A registry would help make it harder for criminals to hide the proceeds of crime and provide law enforcement and regulators with rapid access to data critical in conducting criminal investigations, without increasing the burden on legitimate businesses.
Consultations to inform the establishment of a beneficial ownership registry, and other potential measures to empower regulators and law enforcement to fight money laundering and the financing of organized crime, will be held in the coming months.
Addressing Contraband Tobacco
The presence of contraband tobacco undermines public health objectives, impacts public safety through links to organized crime, and negatively impacts Ontario’s revenue integrity.
The government is committed to addressing contraband tobacco and ensuring that those who seek to benefit from this illicit trade face stronger consequences. In the 2024 Budget, the government strengthened fines for the possession of contraband cigarettes and fine-cut tobacco. Building on these changes, the government is proposing to extend that approach to contraband cigars and other tobacco products (e.g., pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco), while also strengthening fines for other offences under the Tobacco Tax Act (TTA).
Renewing and strengthening the Ministry of Finance’s partnership with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) for the Contraband Tobacco Enforcement Team (CTET) is an important lever in tackling the links between contraband tobacco and organized crime. The government is continuing to invest in CTET, further integrate the ministry’s investigations team and OPP resources, and focus on the intersection points between contraband tobacco and other illegal commodities.
Online sales of contraband tobacco are also impacting provinces and territories across the country, undermining the proper functioning of markets throughout Canada, undercutting provincial revenues, hurting businesses, and facilitating organized crime. Ontario is calling on the federal government to work with provinces and territories to explore strategies to address this national problem.