Etobicoke North

Etobicoke North is a federal riding covering the northwestern corner of the City of Toronto, in the former municipality of Etobicoke. It includes the neighbourhoods of Rexdale, Thistletown, Humberwood, The Elms, Kingsview Village, and Willowridge. The riding is bounded by Steeles Avenue to the north, the Humber River to the east, Dixon Road and Eglinton Avenue to the south, and the city limits to the west.

Candidates

Kirsty Duncan (Liberal) — The incumbent MP, first elected in 2008. Before entering politics, Duncan was a medical geographer and associate professor. She taught meteorology, climatology, and climate change at the University of Windsor from 1993 to 2000, then joined the University of Toronto Scarborough, where she taught medical geography. She gained international recognition in 1998 for leading a scientific expedition to Svalbard, Norway, to exhume bodies of miners killed by the 1918 Spanish influenza, hoping to recover preserved virus samples from the permafrost. She published a book about the expedition, titled Hunting the 1918 Flu.

Priti Lamba (Conservative) — Lamba was an educator who had been teaching at Centennial College and Humber College since 1995. She was active in community organizations, particularly within the South Asian community in the Greater Toronto Area.

Diana Andrews (NDP) — Andrews was a teacher who had previously been a candidate for Toronto city council. She ran an energetic local campaign in the riding.

Also on the ballot were Alex Dvornyak (Libertarian), Anna Di Carlo (Marxist-Leninist), and John C. Gardner (Christian Heritage Party).

About the Riding

Etobicoke North is one of the most diverse ridings in Canada. As of the 2011 census, its population was approximately 56,600, with over half of residents being first-generation immigrants. The largest source countries for recent immigrants included India, Jamaica, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Guyana. Punjabi and Gujarati were among the most commonly spoken non-English home languages.

The riding's economy is heavily influenced by its proximity to Toronto Pearson International Airport, a small portion of whose airfield extends into the riding's territory. The airport and its surrounding logistics, cargo, and hospitality operations are a major source of employment for local residents. Woodbine Racetrack, located at Rexdale Boulevard and Highway 27, is another significant employer and entertainment destination. The area also has a substantial base of light industrial and warehousing businesses, though employment in this sector had been declining.

Rexdale, the riding's largest community, is a mix of post-war suburban housing and apartment towers, many of which are home to newcomer families. Community safety, youth employment, and affordable housing were prominent local concerns heading into the 2011 election. Highway 27 and Highway 401 run through the riding, providing road access to the airport and surrounding employment lands.