Burnaby South

Burnaby South covers the southern and central portions of the City of Burnaby, stretching from the Trans-Canada Highway south to the Fraser River. The riding's centre of gravity is the Metrotown district — a cluster of high-rise residential towers and commercial buildings anchored by Metropolis at Metrotown, British Columbia's largest shopping mall. Other neighbourhoods include Edmonds, South Slope, Royal Oak, and portions of the Big Bend industrial area.

Candidates

Jagmeet Singh (NDP) — The federal NDP leader since October 2017, Singh won the Burnaby South seat in a February 2019 by-election after spending more than a year leading the party without a seat in the House of Commons. A graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, he practised criminal defence law in the Greater Toronto Area before entering politics. He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2011 as MPP for Bramalea—Gore—Malton and became deputy leader of the Ontario NDP in 2015.

Jay Shin (Conservative) — A corporate and commercial lawyer with the Burnaby firm Remedios & Company, Shin specialized in advising Korean and Canadian entities on cross-border transactions in sectors including mining, energy, and real estate. He was previously a partner at Gowlings WLG and Borden Ladner Gervais. The February 2019 by-election had been his first foray into electoral politics.

Neelam Brar (Liberal) — A Burnaby native who built a career advising corporations on investment strategy in New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, and India. She founded District Cowork, a coworking space in Manhattan, before selling the business and returning to the Lower Mainland to run for office.

Brennan Wauters (Green Party) — A project manager with MJR Electric specializing in electric vehicle charging and solar panel installations, Wauters had previously carried the Green banner in West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country in 2011 and in Calgary Midnapore in 2015.

Al Rawdah (People's Party), Rex Brocki (Libertarian), and Brian Sproule (Marxist-Leninist) also sought election.

About the Riding

Burnaby South is among the most densely populated federal ridings in British Columbia. Metrotown has undergone a dramatic transformation from a suburban shopping district into one of Metro Vancouver's most prominent urban centres, with dozens of residential high-rises constructed since the early 2000s. The riding is served by two SkyTrain lines — the Expo and Millennium lines — making it one of the best transit-connected constituencies in the region. Metrotown station is among the busiest stops in the entire SkyTrain network.

The riding is remarkably diverse, with large Chinese, Korean, South Asian, and Southeast Asian communities. More than half of Burnaby's residents speak a mother tongue other than English or French, with Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog, Korean, and Vietnamese among the most common. Burnaby's film and television production industry is a significant employer, with a large share of British Columbia's sound stages located within the city's borders.

Housing affordability was the dominant campaign issue. Burnaby South's SkyTrain access, proximity to downtown Vancouver, and concentration of commercial services made it a prime target for residential development, driving real estate prices and rents well beyond the reach of many residents. The rapid pace of high-rise construction in Metrotown created ongoing tensions over redevelopment, displacement of long-term renters, and the loss of older affordable rental stock. Transit-oriented development, immigration settlement services, and small business support were also key issues in the riding.