Parry Sound—Muskoka

Parry Sound—Muskoka covers more than twelve thousand square kilometres of Canadian Shield terrain at the southern edge of northern Ontario, from the 30,000 Islands of Georgian Bay east to the borders of Algonquin Park. The riding's landscape of granite ridges, mixed forests, and hundreds of interconnected lakes has made it synonymous with Ontario cottage country. Major communities include Huntsville, Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, and Parry Sound, along with dozens of smaller townships.

Candidates

Scott Aitchison (Conservative) — First elected to Huntsville Town Council in 1994 at the age of twenty-one, Aitchison served three terms as councillor before winning the mayoralty of Huntsville in 2014. During his time as mayor he oversaw the development of the De Novo Treatment Centre for addiction counselling and served as a Muskoka District Councillor. He took a leave of absence from the mayor's office to campaign for the federal seat vacated by Tony Clement.

Trisha Cowie (Liberal) — A lawyer who owned and operated Cowie Law Professional Corporation in the Muskoka town of Bala, Cowie was a member of Hiawatha First Nation. She had run against Tony Clement in the 2015 election, finishing second, and was acclaimed as the Liberal candidate for 2019.

Gord Miller (Green Party) — Miller served for fifteen years as Ontario's Environmental Commissioner, the province's chief environmental watchdog responsible for upholding the Environmental Bill of Rights and reporting to the legislature on greenhouse gas progress. He had built a home in Bracebridge and brought decades of environmental policy experience to the contest.

Tom Young (NDP) — A Bracebridge resident, Young was a sales representative for a trucking company who entered the race after a close result in a Bracebridge municipal ward election the previous fall.

Daniel Predie Jr ran as an Independent.

About the Riding

The Muskoka lakes region is one of Ontario's most recognized tourism destinations, drawing visitors to its resorts, lodges, golf courses, and cottage properties. The seasonal cottage economy creates a distinct set of pressures — the population swells dramatically in summer months, straining municipal infrastructure, water systems, and emergency services, while winter brings a sharp contraction that challenges year-round businesses and workers.

Rising property values driven by urban buyers were making affordable year-round housing increasingly scarce for the riding's permanent residents. Many seasonal properties had been converted to primary residences or short-term vacation rentals, reducing the stock of affordable homes and rental units in communities like Bracebridge and Huntsville.

Healthcare access was a persistent concern across the riding. The distance between communities and specialized medical facilities posed challenges, particularly for the riding's significant senior population. Recruitment and retention of family physicians, nurses, and personal support workers in rural and northern communities had been a longstanding struggle. Broadband internet and cellular connectivity remained uneven in the more remote parts of the riding. The contest to replace Tony Clement, who had stepped aside after a personal controversy, drew a competitive field of candidates to a riding that had historically leaned Conservative.