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TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford made several changes to his cabinet Thursday, including adding an artificial intelligence portfolio and moving embattled minister David Piccini from labour to infrastructure.
Piccini is under investigation by the integrity commissioner after the auditor general raised questions about his handling of the $2.5-billion Skills Development Fund. Ford has defended Piccini and the success of the fund and framed the move Thursday as a positive one.
“I changed, I think it was nine ministers, so it’s a combination of moving people around, getting a fresh outlook, a fresh start within new ministries,” he said.
“I put a lot of thought into it, and I think for any premier, myself, in the future or in the past, I think the toughest position you’re in is when you have to pick and choose who’s going to be in cabinet.”
There are 37 people in Ford’s cabinet, including eight associate minister roles. After Ford became premier in 2018 he made good on a promise to deliver a leaner cabinet, with 21 people, but it has steadily grown over his years in power.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles said Ford should have taken the opportunity to drop Piccini from cabinet entirely.
“Instead of accountability, the premier just rewarded him with another job,” she wrote in a statement. “This is ridiculous. His track record shows he can’t be trusted with public dollars and contracts.”
Kinga Surma, who previously served as the minister of infrastructure, is now the Treasury Board president, a role left vacant after Caroline Mulroney resigned earlier this year.
Trevor Jones, who had served in the agriculture portfolio, is the new labour minister, and Sam Oosterhoff moves from an associate minister role to fill the agriculture job.
Zee Hamid, who was also previously in an associate minister role, becomes the new minister of tourism, culture and gaming, after Stan Cho resigned from the job as he came under fire for spending $16,000 in Toronto hotel stays despite living in the city.
Brian Saunderson, a former Olympic rower, enters cabinet to become the new minister of sport, a portfolio left vacant after Neil Lumsden retired last month.
Among the other changes, Ford dropped the associate minister of auto theft and bail reform role he created two years ago, saying its mandate has been fulfilled, and has added an associate minister of artificial intelligence adoption.
“We’re going to start focusing on AI,” he said. “We’re going to be graduating over 17,000 AI graduates. That’s on top of the 94,000 STEM graduates that we graduate every single year.”
Ford named Vijay Thanigasalam to that role, moving him from the role of associate minister of mental health and addictions.
In addition to Saunderson, two other new faces join cabinet, with Michelle Cooper serving in the mental health associate portfolio, and Matthew Rae becoming associate minister of energy-intensive industries.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2026.
Allison Jones and Liam Casey, The Canadian Press
