Waterloo

The federal riding of Waterloo encompassed the City of Waterloo and portions of north Kitchener, situated roughly 94 kilometres west of Toronto. Often called Canada's Silicon Valley, the riding was the nucleus of a technology corridor anchored by two major post-secondary institutions — the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University — and home to one of the highest startup concentrations outside Silicon Valley itself.

Candidates

Bardish Chagger (Liberal) — The incumbent MP, first elected in 2015. Born in Waterloo to parents who immigrated from Punjab, India, in the 1970s, Chagger attended the University of Waterloo and worked as an executive assistant to Andrew Telegdi, the former Liberal MP for the riding. She later served as a director of special events at the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre. In government, she served as Minister of Small Business and Tourism and became the first woman to serve as Government House Leader.

Jerry Zhang (Conservative) — The Conservative nominee, chosen in April 2019 after a contested nomination. Zhang ran on a platform of fiscal discipline and economic competitiveness for the Waterloo technology sector.

Lori Campbell (NDP) — A Cree-Métis academic who served as director of the Shatitsirótha' Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre and taught Indigenous studies at St. Paul's University College at the University of Waterloo. Campbell sat on several community boards, including the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery and the Council for Community Based Research.

Kirsten Wright (Green Party) — The Green Party nominee for Waterloo, who ran unopposed for the party's nomination. Wright focused her campaign on climate action and sustainability within the technology corridor.

Erika Traub also ran for the People's Party.

About the Riding

The technology sector defined the riding's economic character. BlackBerry, headquartered in Waterloo, remained the region's most recognized company, though it had undergone significant downsizing from its peak workforce. OpenText, one of Canada's largest software companies, was headquartered in the riding, and Google, Shopify, and dozens of smaller firms maintained offices in the area. The Communitech Hub served as a focal point for the local startup ecosystem, providing incubation and acceleration services.

The two universities shaped the riding fundamentally. The University of Waterloo enrolled approximately 40,000 students, and Wilfrid Laurier University added roughly 19,000 more, creating a large transient population that influenced the housing market, retail economy, and nightlife. The University of Waterloo's cooperative education program — the largest of its kind globally — funnelled thousands of students into local technology firms annually. Student issues including tuition costs, co-op job availability, and housing affordability were perennial campaign themes.

Beyond technology, the broader Kitchener-Waterloo region remained a significant manufacturing centre, with automotive parts, food processing, and advanced materials firms providing a substantial share of employment. The ION light rail transit line — which began operations in June 2019 connecting Waterloo to Kitchener — had increased the region's attractiveness to commuters and investors, but also contributed to rising housing costs as spillover demand from the Greater Toronto Area intensified. Rental vacancy rates in the riding were among the lowest in the province, squeezing students and lower-income workers alike.