Ford shuffles Cabinet, promotes Oosterhoff to Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness

Ontario Premier Doug Ford shuffled his Cabinet on Thursday and one of the biggest promotions handed out was to Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff. 

The Progressive Conservative Party’s lone voice on the government benches representing Niagara, Oosterhoff was promoted from an associate minister role to a full ministerial portfolio. 

After serving for just over two years as Associate Minister of Energy-Intensive Industries as part of the Ministry of Energy and Mines under Minister Stephen Lecce, Oosterhoff now takes on the role of Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, replacing Trevor Jones. 

Oosterhoff, who has represented Niagara West at Queen’s Park since 2016, released a statement upon his appointment. He spoke about growing up on a family farm in Niagara, seeing his parents work tirelessly as farmers, and noted that his siblings continue to farm to this day. 

Oosterhoff added: “I may have left the farm, but as I head to farms and agri-businesses across the province, I remain more motivated than ever to protect our remarkable workers and farm families, as well as the entrepreneurs and visionaries who lead them.” 

After the departure of three ministers from Cabinet this summer, Ford needed a Cabinet shuffle. 

Other than promoting Oosterhoff, Ford made a number of other changes to his Cabinet, which has now grown in size to 37 members, up from 21 when the PCs were first elected back in 2018. 

Notably, David Piccini, who faced controversy over the Skills Development Fund, has moved from the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development to the Ministry of Infrastructure. 

Jones, Oosterhoff’s predecessor in the Ministry of Agriculture, will take Piccini’s old role. 

Brian Saunderson, a former Olympian, was named Minister of Sport. 

Kinga Surma moved from the infrastructure file to become President of the Treasury Board, replacing Caroline Mulroney, who resigned from Queen’s Park earlier this summer. 

Zee Hamid’s former role of Associate Minister of Auto Theft and Bail Reform was eliminated and he was moved to the role of Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming, replacing Stan Cho, who resigned from Cabinet earlier this summer following controversies related to his hotel expenses. 

Vijay Thanigasalam was appointed to the new role of Associate Minister of Artificial Intelligence Adoption, which will be part of the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. 

Matthew Rae was promoted to Oosterhoff’s former role of Associate Minister of Energy-Intensive Industries. 

Also joining the Cabinet for the first time is Toronto MPP Michelle Cooper, who became Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. 

The premier framed the shuffle as part of a larger response to the ongoing and escalating trade conflict with U.S. President Donald Trump.

“President Trump is once again taking aim at Ontario’s economy with his latest round of tariffs and anti-trade measures,” said Ford. “Ontario won’t back down. We’re preparing for the long haul, and that means putting the right team in place to protect Ontario workers and jobs today while building the most competitive, resilient and self-reliant economy in the G7 that can withstand whatever challenges come our way.”