Paul Calandra

Paul A. Calandra (born May 13, 1970) is a Canadian politician who has served as the Ontario minister of education since 2025. A member of the Ontario Progressive Conservative (PC) Party, Calandra represents Markham—Stouffville in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. He was previously the Ontario minister of municipal affairs and housing from 2023 to 2025, the Ontario minister of long-term care from 2022 to 2023, and the Ontario government house leader from 2019 to 2024.

He previously sat in the federal House of Commons from 2008 to 2015 for the Conservative Party, serving as a parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper from 2013 to 2015. In the 2015 federal election, he was a candidate in the Markham—Stouffville riding, created as a result of the federal electoral redistribution of 2012, and was defeated by Jane Philpott. Upon his defeat in 2015 he was recognized for his work within the community In the aftermath of an election celebration

Education Calandra studied history with a minor in political science. He obtained a bachelor's degree from Carleton in November 2008.

Early career Prior to entering politics, Calandra worked in the insurance business from 1995 to 2003. He then served as chief of staff to Steve Gilchrist, who was the PC MPP for Scarborough East in the Mike Harris government.

Family dispute In 2005, Calandra was involved in a family dispute. In the early 2000s, he had power of attorney to manage his mother's affairs. In a lawsuit filed by his sisters, it was claimed the power of attorney had been revoked by his mother months before her death in August 2005, but Calandra had invoked it for personal gain. Calandra's sisters alleged that he had charged $8,000 to his mother's credit card without her knowledge. In his statement of defence, Calandra said that the charges had been authorized.

Politics Calandra ran as theCanadian Alliance candidate in the 2000 federal election in the Toronto riding of Scarborough East. He was defeated by Liberal incumbent John McKay by 16,460 votes. He ran eight years later in the 2008 federal election as the Conservative candidate in the York Region riding of Oak Ridges—Markham. He defeated Liberal incumbent Lui Temelkovski by 545 votes. He was re-elected in 2011, defeating Temelkovski again, this time by 20,680 votes.

Following his election in 2008, in Calandra's first term, he sat on the Access to Information, Privacy, and Ethics Committee, Citizenship and Immigration Committee, and the Government Operations and Estimates Committee.

During this term, he also introduced two private member's bills. On June 19, 2009, he introduced 'An Act to Change the Name of the Electoral District of Oak Ridges—Markham’, and on March 11, 2011, he introduced 'An Act Respecting the Establishment of a National Strategy for the Purchase and Sale of Second-Hand Precious Metal Articles‘. Neither of these bills proceeded past first reading. During his tenure as Member of Parliament for Oak Ridges—Markham, Calandra advocated on behalf of residents opposed to the proposed construction of a cellular communications tower in Stouffville. He raised constituents’ concerns regarding the tower's proposed location and supported efforts to have the project reconsidered through the federal consultation process.

In addition to his legislative duties, Calandra supported community fundraising initiatives in his constituency. He organised the annual “Hockey Night in Stouffville” charity event, which brought together current and former National Hockey League players to raise funds for local charitable organizations and community programs. The event featured NHL alumni alongside local participants and highlighted community support for amateur hockey and local charities. Calandra was very active in honouring veterans and was instrumental in organizing the first Veterans Banner program in Markham and Stouffville (an initiative he reprised as a provincial MPPStouffville, MPP Calandra unveil 24 new Remembrance Day banners) and organised a successful Military Parade that was very popular but did draw criticism from the local Mennonite community. Large crowd welcomes military parade https://cameracombo.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/governor-generals-horse-guards-visit-stouffville/

Parliamentary secretary to the minister of Canadian heritage and official languages He was re-elected in the 2011 election and was subsequently appointed parliamentary secretary to the minister of Canadian heritage and official languages where he sat on the Standing Committee for Canadian Heritage and formerly the Standing Committee on Bill C-11.

Parliamentary secretary to the prime minister In September 2013, Paul Calandra was appointed parliamentary secretary to the prime minister and minister of intergovernmental affairs.

As parliamentary secretary, Calandra often fielded questions on behalf of Prime Minister Harper during the Canadian Senate expenses scandal (2013). This brought Calandra under a great deal of scrutiny for his perceived non-answers, deflections, and attacks, and prompted widespread backlash in the form of media articles. After his defeat in the 2015 election, Calandra reflected on the loss and his time as parliamentary secretary to the prime minister.

2015 general election He was defeated by Jane Philpott in the Markham—Stouffville riding, created as a result of the federal electoral redistribution of 2012. In a CBC interview https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/paul-calandra-niqab-c24-conservative-mistakes-1.3291271 Calandra reflected on his loss and his time in federal politics.

Entry into provincial politics

In September 2016 Calandra announced that he would be seeking the Ontario PC nomination for the provincial riding of Markham-Stouffville. On November 11, it was announced that Calandra won the nomination and would represent the PCs in the 2018 provincial election.

In the 2018 Ontario general election, Calandra won the riding of Markham-Stouffville, defeating Liberal incumbent Helena Jaczek. On June 29, 2018, Calandra was appointed as the parliamentary assistant to the minister of energy, northern development and mines (energy). He was re-elected in the 2022 Ontario general election with 48.42% of the vote.

Provincial cabinet Calandra was appointed to the provincial cabinet of Premier Doug Ford in 2019 as government house leader and minister without portfolio.

Government House Leader

As House Leader Calandra initiated a serious of standing order changes that led to the modernization of the Assembly and proceedings in the chamber. The first set of changes introduced in 2019. https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/house-documents/parliament-42/session-1/2019-11-27/orders-notices Calandra also brought in changes to the Standing Orders that allowed Indigenous Members to speak in their language with full translation and Hansard also in the language spoken. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/mpp-sol-mamakwa-oji-cree-ontario-legislature-1.7216763

He was later promoted to a full minister in 2021, becoming the first and only minister of legislative affairs. In 2022, Calandra assumed the role of minister of long-term care, following the resignation of Rod Philips. In September 2023, he was named minister of municipal affairs and housing following the resignation of Steve Clark. Following Calandra's appointment as minister of education in 2025, he began appointing supervisors to take over several of Ontario's school boards. The government's Bill 33 gives the education ministry more power over school boards. In early 2026, the Ford government announced changes to Ontario Student Assistance Program and the powers of elected trustees. In May 2026 Calandra was voted the most influential member of the Ontario Cabinet QPB Survey: Insiders rank Calandra, Lecce and Flack as Ford government’s top ministers

Electoral record