Ajax

Named after HMS Ajax, the Royal Navy cruiser that fought at the Battle of the River Plate in 1939, the Town of Ajax occupies a stretch of Lake Ontario's north shore in Durham Region, approximately 30 kilometres east of downtown Toronto. The riding, separated from the former Ajax—Pickering constituency during the 2012 redistribution, encompasses the entire municipality.

Candidates

Mark Holland (Liberal) — A former three-term MP who represented the Ajax—Pickering riding from 2004 to 2011 before losing his seat. During his time away from Parliament, Holland served as executive director of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada's Ontario Mission and national director of Children and Youth programs. He won the newly configured Ajax seat in 2015 and sought a second consecutive term.

Tom Dingwall (Conservative) — A long-serving officer with the Durham Regional Police Service who entered policing at age 18. Dingwall's campaign drew on his front-line experience with opioid abuse, homelessness, and mental health crises that he witnessed during his law enforcement career.

Shokat Malik (NDP) — A real estate agent who focused his campaign on the NDP's affordable housing pledges, including a plan to build 500,000 units nationally. Malik also promoted the party's platform on universal pharmacare and dental care.

Maia Knight (Green Party) — The Green Party's candidate in Ajax.

Susanna Russo (People's Party) also ran, along with independents Allen Keith Hadley and Intab Ali.

About the Riding

Ajax had evolved from a wartime munitions manufacturing settlement into one of the Greater Toronto Area's fastest-growing suburban communities. Its population roughly doubled between 1991 and 2011, propelled by relatively affordable housing and direct access to Highway 401. The community was notably diverse, with South Asian, Caribbean, and Filipino communities forming a significant portion of the population; Tagalog, Urdu, and Tamil were among the most commonly spoken non-official languages. Many residents commuted daily to Toronto and Pickering, making GO Transit service — particularly the frequency and reliability of trains from Ajax GO Station — a perennial campaign issue. The Ajax waterfront along Lake Ontario had become a focal point of municipal planning, with trail systems and parkland enhancing the lakeshore corridor. The riding's median household income exceeded the provincial average, reflecting its middle-class suburban character, but the rising cost of housing in the broader GTA was increasingly pressuring younger families who had once been drawn to the area for its affordability.