TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford officially set a provincial election in motion Tuesday for Feb. 27, more than a year before the next fixed election date.

The election had been set for June 2026, but Ford said he needs a new mandate to deal with four years of a Donald Trump presidency in the United States.

Ford has said Trump’s threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods would hit Ontario and its auto sector hard, and the provincial government would need to spend tens of billions of dollars to protect jobs and the economy.