Fears of a snap winter election lowering the voter turnout appear to have been unfounded.
Early data from Elections Ontario shows a little more than 5 million or 45.4 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballot in Thursday's provincial election.
Comparatively, the election in 2022 saw about 4.7 million Ontarians or 44.06 per cent head to the polls which was the lowest voter turnout in the province's history.
Local ridings saw a similar trend of a slight increase in voter turnout. The Cambridge riding saw 45.8 per cent cast their vote, up from 43.22 per cent in 2022. Kitchener South-Hespeler also saw an increase with 43.93 per cent of eligible voters participating compared to 42.16 per cent in 2022.
The Progressive Conservative party won a third straight majority government, winning 80 seats. The NDP remains the official opposition with 27 seats and the Liberals have regained official party status with 14 seats. The Green Party held onto its two seats and one Independent candidate was elected to Queen's Park.
As of Friday morning, 99.93 per cent of polls had been reported and Elections Ontario still needs to certify the results.