Sault Ste. Marie

Sault Ste. Marie sits at the rapids of the St. Marys River, where Lake Superior empties into Lake Huron and the international border separates Ontario from Michigan. The riding encompasses the city of Sault Ste. Marie and surrounding communities in the Algoma District, including Prince Township and the Garden River and Batchewana First Nations. The Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge links the city to its American twin, making cross-border commerce a daily feature of life in the region.

Candidates

Terry Sheehan (Liberal) — Born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Sheehan studied political science at Lake Superior State University and worked as an employment and training consultant with the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. He served as a school board trustee on the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board before winning a seat on Sault Ste. Marie City Council in 2003, representing Ward 2 for twelve years. First elected to Parliament in 2015, he was seeking his second term.

Sonny Spina (Conservative) — A Sault Ste. Marie native, Spina served eighteen years with the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service as a constable and detective, also serving as a media relations officer. He chaired the Algoma Family Services Foundation, served as United Way Campaign chair, and founded the Twinkie Foundation to help families of sick children cover travel expenses.

Sara McCleary (NDP) — A journalist and community outreach worker, McCleary held a master's degree in history from Queen's University with a focus on Indigenous-settler relations. She was known in the Sault for her columns and news articles in Sault This Week and worked as a fundraiser at St. Vincent Place, a local shelter and food bank.

Geo McLean (Green Party) — McLean carried the Green Party banner in Sault Ste. Marie, advocating for investment in rail infrastructure and environmental policy during the campaign.

Amy Zuccato stood as the People's Party of Canada candidate.

About the Riding

Steel has defined Sault Ste. Marie's economy for over a century. By 2019, Algoma Steel had emerged from creditor protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act—which it entered in November 2015—completing its restructuring in late 2018. The company was in the midst of a major capital renewal, with a three-hundred-million-dollar investment commitment to modernize its Sault facilities. Algoma employed approximately three thousand workers and received a combined one-hundred-and-fifty-million-dollar federal and provincial funding package in early 2019 to sustain jobs and upgrade its operations. Tenaris, a manufacturer of steel tubes for the oil and gas sector, provided the other major industrial anchor.

Beyond heavy industry, the riding's economy draws on health care, education through Algoma University and Sault College, tourism, and forestry. The Agawa Canyon Tour Train and proximity to Lake Superior Provincial Park attract visitors from across Ontario. Sault Ste. Marie had historically been a swing riding, alternating among all three major parties, and the state of the steel industry, youth retention, and economic diversification remained its central political preoccupations.