Guelph

The federal riding of Guelph corresponds to the boundaries of the City of Guelph, a mid-sized city in southwestern Ontario situated approximately seventy kilometres west of downtown Toronto and twenty-two kilometres east of Kitchener. Founded in 1827 by the Canada Company under the direction of Scottish novelist John Galt, Guelph sits at the confluence of the Speed and Eramosa Rivers and serves as the seat of Wellington County, though it is politically independent of the county. The city's 2021 census population was approximately 143,740.

Guelph is home to the University of Guelph, a research-intensive institution founded in 1964 through the amalgamation of several older colleges, including the Ontario Agricultural College (established 1874), the Ontario Veterinary College, and Macdonald Institute. The university is a major employer and has established the city's reputation as a centre of agricultural science, veterinary medicine, and environmental research.

Candidates

Lloyd Longfield (Liberal) — A native of Winnipeg who moved to Guelph in 1992, Longfield holds a BA in English and mathematics from the University of Manitoba and a diploma in mechanical engineering from Red River College. He worked as a mechanical engineering technologist in the manufacturing sector, running his own business and helping companies improve productivity through automation and process improvement. He served as president of the Guelph Chamber of Commerce for approximately eight years before winning the Guelph seat for the Liberals in the 2015 federal election. In Parliament, he served on standing committees for Industry, Agriculture, Public Accounts, and the Environment.

Ashish Sachan (Conservative) — A veterinarian licensed in toxicology by the College of Veterinarians of Ontario, Sachan holds a PhD in toxicology and settled in Guelph in 2013 with his family. He served as president of the Guelph Hindu Society and was active in the Guelph-Wellington Local Immigration Partnership. Sachan was the recipient of the Canada 150 Community Leader Award and the Guelph and District Multicultural Festival Community Champion Award. He had been the Conservative candidate in the riding since 2019.

Aisha Jahangir (NDP) — A registered nurse for over twenty years, Jahangir studied nursing at Conestoga College and Ryerson University. She specialized in labour and delivery at Guelph General Hospital before transitioning to mental health nursing, working at Homewood Health Centre and later at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre. Active in the Ontario Nurses' Association, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, and the Ontario Federation of Labour, she speaks English, Urdu, Punjabi, and Hindi. She also ran in the riding in 2019.

Michelle Bowman (Green Party) — An ecologist with a PhD in environmental biology and ecology, Bowman works as an adjunct professor at Ontario Tech University and as a self-employed consultant. She served as a visiting scientist at the Ontario government and at universities in Utah and Saskatchewan before settling in Guelph. She was appointed to the Green Party of Canada shadow cabinet as critic for the environment and had been active with the Guelph Greens since 2017.

About the Riding

Guelph occupies a distinctive place in Ontario's political landscape — a mid-sized university city with a strong environmental consciousness, a diversified economy, and a history of political engagement. The city has been represented by Liberal MPs continuously since 1993, and the riding gained national attention in 2008 when it was at the centre of the robocalls scandal that led to a landmark Federal Court ruling on election fraud.

The University of Guelph anchors the city's intellectual and economic life. The Ontario Agricultural College's legacy has fostered a concentration of agri-food research and innovation, and the city has attracted companies in advanced manufacturing, clean technology, and food science. Linamar Corporation, a global auto parts manufacturer headquartered in Guelph, is one of the city's largest private employers, while Sleeman Breweries maintains its operations in the city.

Guelph has cultivated a reputation for environmental leadership. The city was an early adopter of waste diversion programs and has pursued ambitious sustainability targets. This environmental consciousness is reflected in the riding's political dynamics — the Green Party has historically performed well in Guelph relative to other Ontario ridings, and environmental issues consistently rank among voters' top concerns.

Affordable housing emerged as a pressing issue during the 2021 campaign, as rising property values and limited rental stock strained the city's capacity to accommodate its growing population. The pandemic's economic disruption added urgency to debates over childcare, small business support, and healthcare access.