Full disclosure: Area MPPs list their travel and living expenses for the past year

Ontario’s provincial politicians get compensation that goes far beyond their annual base salaries of $157,350 in order to represent their constituents both at home and away.

A closer look reveals that, on average, each member of provincial parliament (MPP) will receive over half a million dollars a year — mostly through tax-funded allowances to cover such things as their office budgets, plus travel and accommodation expenses.

The Ontario government has disclosed the annual expense list submitted by all MPPs for travel and living costs in 2025-2026, with base salaries and office expenses excluded from the list.

The province compensates MPPs for expenses such as travel between their ridings and Queen’s Park, travel within their own ridings, and a housing allowance while in Toronto.

The data vary greatly depending on the location and size of the ridings they represent.

In the ridings around southeastern Ontario, it appears no two MPPs are the same when it comes to expense claims.

Kingston and the Islands Liberal MPP Ted Hsu checked in with the lowest amount of expense claims, while Hastings—Lennox and Addington Progressive Conservative MPP Ric Bresee had one of the highest.

The recently published Individual Members’ expenses list was put together by MPP Donna Skelly, who is Speaker of the Ontario Legislature.

The Toronto housing allowance for all MPPs is set at $30,740 a year for members who live more than 50 kilometres from Queen’s Park, the provincial seat of government in Toronto, and $31,740 for provincial cabinet ministers.

The disclosure list shows that Hsu’s total travel and living expenses in the 2025/2026 fiscal year amounted to $25,604.

Of that, he claimed $14,400 for accommodations in Toronto and approximately $9,800 to commute between Kingston and Toronto.

Kingstonist contacted Hsu to find out how he managed his Toronto accommodation budget, which works out to around $1,200 a month, in a city with some of the highest rents in Canada.

“I rent a room from my brother, which saves the legislature a lot of money, and I also rent a parking spot,” he explained.

“It’s only a 10 to 15 minute walk from the legislature. It’s very convenient, as Toronto goes.”

Hsu said the nearly $10,000 claim for travel expenses between his riding and Queen’s Park is based on the use of his own vehicle or taking the train.

He said his travel budget may be somewhat larger than other regional colleagues, and is partly based on his role as a Liberal shadow minister of Energy, Mines, Forestry, Agricultural and Rural Affairs, and due to extra demands of being in a small Liberal caucus, which require more frequent trips to Toronto.

“Going to Queen’s Park is really important. I go there when the legislature is in session, but sometimes I go there for other events. We don’t want to be cut off from Toronto. It’s really important for me to be connected to Toronto,” he explained.

The list showed Hsu claimed no travel expenses within the home riding.

Bay of Quinte Conservative MPP Tyler Allsopp filed total expenses of $36,083 over the past year, including the maximum Toronto living allowance of $30,740.

Allsopp was also granted additional expense compensation of $13,107, what’s known as an “overage” allowance that comes from a portion of his office budget, to cover extra living expenses in Toronto.

Allsopp said he spends about $3,700 a month to rent a downtown Toronto condominium.

“I live within one kilometre of Queen’s Park, about as downtown as you can possibly be, because that way I am able to get in quickly if there’s a vote bell, if there’s a night sitting or something of that nature, and I’m able to get to the Legislature within 10 minutes,” he said.

Allsopp also claimed expenses of $2,600 for travel within his riding and $1,700 to commute back and forth to Toronto — almost all of it based on a standard 61-cent per kilometre reimbursement rate for the use of his own vehicle, which he said is more convenient than taking the train due to a lack of evening VIA Rail service on his return-home days from the legislature.

Overall, Allsopp said his expense claims for the past year represent “pretty good value for taxpayers.”

“I think I stack up very well with my colleagues and, in fact, I’m quite a bit under many other members who do have to commute and have a riding of a similar size,” he said.

Allsopp said his “global” MPP office budget — covering constituency office operating costs, staff salaries, and communication expenses — was $349,000 for the year, even though he was allowed to spend up to $479,000.

“That, I believe, was the third lowest of any MPP that I could find listed that has served that full year,” he told Kingstonist.

The office budget for each MPP can vary based on each riding’s population and geographic size.

Hsu said his global office budget is also around $479,000, and he spends almost all of it to have five full-time staff.

“I think I probably have more staff than some of the other MPPs. We try and be responsive [to constituents],” Hsu explained.

In the riding next door, Conservative MPP John Jordan, who represents Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, claimed total expenses of $41,642, which includes the maximum Toronto accommodation allowance of $30,740, plus over $7,300 for travel between his residence and Queen’s Park and $1,800 for travel within his riding.

MPP Bresee claimed total expenses of $51,362 during the last fiscal year.

Of that, he listed his Toronto living expenses of $29,859, over $14,000 for travel within his riding, plus over $5,100 for travel from his residence to Toronto.

Hastings-Lennox and Addington is a large, mostly rural riding in central and eastern Ontario.

Bresee’s office told Kingstonist the MPP was unavailable to comment at this time due to a personal matter.

Veteran Conservative MPP Steve Clark, representing Leeds, Grenville, Thousand Islands, and Rideau Lakes, claimed total expenses of $42,347, including about $25,800 for his Toronto accommodations and $9,500 for travel between his riding residence and Queen’s Park.

Clark is Government House Leader, which is not considered a cabinet position, and is coincidentally Commissioner of the Board of Internal Economy, the same group that sets politicians’ living expense budgets.

Cabinet minister MPP Nolan Quinn, the Conservative member for Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, located east of Clark’s riding, claimed total expenses of $56,761, which appears to be the highest amount in this region.

The amount included $31,740 for Toronto accommodations, the highest allowed for a provincial minister (Quinn is Ontario’s Minister of Colleges and Universities), plus over $20,000 for travel between his residence and Queen’s Park.

Quinn was also granted an overage allowance of $4,802.

Local MPPs who spoke with Kingstonist agreed that they keep busy connecting with constituents while addressing other local or government issues when the legislature is not in session.

“Throughout the summer, even when we’re not sitting, I do have to be in Toronto at least two days a week,” said Allsopp, who serves as the government’s Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

Allsopp also defended the government’s decision to rise for a five-month-long summer break, not returning until late October, stating it’s because of the government’s ability to clear its legislative agenda much more quickly.

“Obviously our government has a strong majority mandate and so we’re able to get legislation passed relatively quickly,” he said.

Hsu, by contrast, described the extra-long recess as the Ford government’s way of avoiding tough questions in the legislature.

He also said having the legislature in session more often is a benefit, as it’s much easier for him to approach cabinet ministers to raise local concerns through oral or written questions, or by having face-to-face conversations in the corridors of Queen’s Park, the MPP lunchroom or, even, the washroom.

“The ministers are accessible. When I approach the Transportation Minister, he says, ‘Okay, which ferry is it this time?’” the Kingston and the Islands MPP said.