Ottawa residents keeping an eye on Queen's Park got a shakeup this week. Premier Doug Ford moved David Piccini from Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development into the Minister of Infrastructure role, a shift that happened amid an ongoing integrity commissioner investigation into how Piccini handled the Skills Development Fund.
Why It Matters for Ottawa
The infrastructure ministry Piccini now leads is a big one. Ford described the portfolio as covering roughly $235 billion in provincial commitments, including an $80 billion transit system and a $64 billion hospital construction program. A change at the top of that file is worth watching for anyone following what Queen's Park funds here.
The Investigation Piccini Is Still Facing
The move comes while Piccini remains under investigation by Integrity Commissioner Cathryn Motherwell over his handling of a $2.5-billion skills training fund. Ford defended the reassignment as a natural progression rather than a response to the probe, telling reporters Piccini trained roughly 750,000 people over the last two years and that infrastructure was a logical next step for him.
Not everyone agreed with that framing. NDP Leader Marit Stiles criticized the move, saying Piccini is under investigation by the Integrity Commissioner for mismanaging an important public fund and rewarding insiders and lobbyists. The investigation itself has not concluded, so the specifics of what Motherwell's office finds remain to be seen.
The Rest of the Shuffle
Piccini's move was one piece of a broader nine-member shuffle across Ford's 37-minister cabinet, which the premier's office positioned as a response to the ongoing trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump. Kinga Surma moved from Minister of Infrastructure, the post Piccini now holds, into President of the Treasury Board, a role that had sat vacant since Caroline Mulroney resigned as both minister and MPP in June 2026.
Trevor Jones was appointed to replace Piccini as Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, moving over from Agriculture. Sam Oosterhoff then stepped into Jones's old Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness post. Elsewhere in cabinet, Zee Hamid took over as Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming, replacing Stan Cho, who had resigned over hotel expense claims. Brian Saunderson joined cabinet for the first time as Minister of Sport, filling the seat left by Neil Lumsden's retirement in August 2026.
What Led Here
The shuffle landed the same week Ford also added a new associate minister of artificial intelligence adoption as Ontario braces for a longer fight over U.S. tariffs, as ottown's earlier report detailed. It follows a similar pattern to Ottawa's federal picture, where Prime Minister Mark Carney has been huddling with his own cabinet in Banff over the same trade war, according to ottown's earlier report.
What's Next
Sources: CP24, The Globe and Mail
