North Vancouver

North Vancouver was a coastal urban riding on the north shore of Burrard Inlet, directly across the harbour from downtown Vancouver. The riding encompassed the City of North Vancouver and the southern portion of the District of North Vancouver, stretching from the Capilano River in the west to Indian Arm in the east, and from the waterfront up into the forested slopes of the Coast Mountains. Its dramatic setting between ocean and mountains, along with its proximity to downtown Vancouver via the SeaBus and Lions Gate Bridge, made it one of British Columbia’s most desirable residential communities.

Candidates

Andrew Saxton (Conservative)* — Saxton was born and raised in North Vancouver and attended Upper Canada College in Toronto before earning a Bachelor of Arts in Administrative and Commercial Studies from the University of Western Ontario in 1986. He built an international career in finance, working for Credit Suisse in Switzerland and New York, and later serving as senior account manager with HSBC in Hong Kong and senior vice-president of HSBC Private Banking in Singapore. He returned to Vancouver to serve as CEO of King George Financial Corporation, a real-estate investment firm. First elected to Parliament in 2008, he was appointed parliamentary secretary to the President of the Treasury Board and was re-elected in 2011 with approximately 49 percent of the vote.

Taleeb Noormohamed (Liberal) — Noormohamed was born in Ottawa on October 8, 1976, to a family of Kenyan immigrants, and grew up on the North Shore. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University with a concentration in International Relations and Islamic Civilizations, a master’s degree from Harvard University, and pursued doctoral studies at Oxford University. His career spanned the public and private sectors: he worked in the Privy Council Office under Prime Ministers Chrétien and Martin, served as Director of the Air India Review Secretariat, and later led Serebra, an online learning technology company, as its CEO. He was nominated at a meeting of approximately 400 Liberal members but was defeated by Saxton. He later won election as the Liberal MP for Vancouver Granville in 2021.

Michael Charrois (NDP) — Charrois was an actor and educator who ran as the NDP candidate in North Vancouver in both 2008 and 2011. He later ran for the BC NDP in the provincial riding of North Vancouver-Seymour in 2017.

Greg Dowman (Green Party) — Dowman ran as the Green Party candidate in North Vancouver.

Nick Jones (Independent) — Jones ran as an Independent candidate.

About the Riding

North Vancouver was an affluent urban-suburban riding defined by its spectacular natural setting and strong connections to Vancouver’s economic core. The City of North Vancouver, centred on the Lonsdale corridor, had undergone significant densification with new condominium towers and a revitalized waterfront anchored by the Lonsdale Quay public market and the SeaBus terminal. The District of North Vancouver contributed quieter residential neighbourhoods tucked into the mountain slopes, with deep forest surrounding communities like Deep Cove and the Lynn Valley area.

The riding’s economy was diverse and services-oriented. Many residents commuted to Vancouver for work in finance, technology, professional services, and the film industry. Local employment was concentrated in health care, with Lions Gate Hospital serving as a major employer, as well as in education, retail, and the maritime and shipyard heritage along the waterfront. The riding also benefited from proximity to Grouse Mountain, the Capilano Suspension Bridge, and other tourist attractions that generated seasonal hospitality employment.

Demographically, North Vancouver was more diverse than many North Shore stereotypes suggested. While roughly 70 percent of the population was of European ancestry, the riding had growing Persian, Chinese, Korean, and Filipino communities. English was the dominant language, but Persian was the second most common mother tongue at nearly 8 percent. The riding had a well-educated population, above-average household incomes, and a mix of homeowners in established single-family neighbourhoods and renters in the growing condominium stock.

Politically, North Vancouver had been a competitive riding that trended Conservative during the Harper era. Saxton won by a comfortable 19-point margin in 2011, benefiting from the national Conservative momentum and his personal profile as a business executive. The Liberals, who had traditionally been competitive on the North Shore, fielded a strong candidate in Noormohamed but were hampered by the national collapse of the party under Michael Ignatieff. The NDP and Greens attracted modest support. The riding would swing back to the Liberals in 2015 when Jonathan Wilkinson defeated Saxton, reflecting the broader political realignment on the North Shore.