Etobicoke North

Etobicoke North covers the northwestern corner of Toronto, anchored by the neighbourhood of Rexdale and extending through Thistletown, Humberwood, Kingsview Village, The Elms, and Willowridge. The riding runs from Steeles Avenue in the north to Dixon Road and Eglinton Avenue in the south, bounded by the Humber River to the east and the city limits to the west. Proximity to Pearson International Airport shapes the local economy, with many residents employed in aviation, logistics, and hospitality.

Candidates

Kirsty Duncan (Liberal) — A medical geographer and associate professor at the University of Toronto, Duncan gained international recognition for leading a 1998 research expedition to Longyearbyen, Norway, investigating the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic. First elected in 2008, she served as Minister of Science from 2015 and took on the additional Sport portfolio in January 2018, holding both until the 2019 election. She was seeking her fourth consecutive term.

Sarabjit Kaur (Conservative) — Kaur ran as the Conservative challenger in Etobicoke North, participating in local candidate debates where she focused on issues including firearms policy and public safety in the riding's diverse communities.

Naiima Farah (NDP) — Farah holds a Master of Social Work from York University and previously ran for Toronto City Council in Etobicoke North in 2018. Her campaign emphasized social equity, affordable housing, and the economic challenges facing working families in the riding.

Renata Ford (People's Party) — The widow of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford and sister-in-law of Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Renata Ford drew significant media attention to the riding when she was announced as the PPC candidate. Party leader Maxime Bernier launched his election campaign at Ford's headquarters in the riding.

Nancy Ghuman (Green Party) — Ghuman represented the Green Party in Etobicoke North, offering an environmental policy platform in a riding where bread-and-butter economic issues typically dominated.

Sudhir Mehta ran for Canada's Fourth Front.

About the Riding

Rexdale, the riding's central neighbourhood, was developed in the 1950s by builder Rex Heslop as part of Toronto's postwar suburban expansion. Once populated primarily by European immigrants, the community transformed over subsequent decades as newcomers arrived from South Asia, the Caribbean, East Africa, and Latin America. By 2019, over half the riding's population identified as visible minorities, with Punjabi and Gujarati among the most common mother tongues after English.

The Woodbine Racetrack complex and the Humber College campus ranked among the riding's largest employers. Residents contended with challenges common to Toronto's inner suburbs, including aging high-rise apartment buildings constructed in the 1960s and 1970s, limited rapid transit connections to the Bloor-Danforth subway line, and youth employment concerns. The riding had been a Liberal stronghold since 1988, and Duncan's ministerial profile reinforced that advantage. Renata Ford's candidacy for the People's Party generated national headlines, though the Ford name carried less electoral weight at the federal level than some observers had predicted.