Newmarket—Aurora

Newmarket—Aurora sits in northern York Region, approximately 50 kilometres north of downtown Toronto along the Yonge Street corridor. The riding encompasses the entire Town of Newmarket, the portion of the Town of Aurora north of Wellington Street, and a small section of the Town of East Gwillimbury south of Green Lane and west of Highway 404. The landscape is predominantly suburban, with commercial centres along Yonge Street and Davis Drive, established residential neighbourhoods, and pockets of agricultural land on the riding's northern fringe near the Holland River.

The 2021 census recorded a population of approximately 117,400. The riding's ethnic composition is roughly 61 percent White, 14 percent Chinese, 7 percent West Asian (primarily Iranian), 4 percent South Asian, and smaller proportions of Black, Filipino, and Southeast Asian residents. English is the mother tongue for about 61 percent of the population, with Mandarin, Persian, Cantonese, and Russian among the most commonly spoken non-official languages. The median household income of approximately $98,300 is above the provincial average.

Candidates

Tony Van Bynen (Liberal) — Born in the Netherlands in 1950, Van Bynen immigrated to Canada in 1952 and grew up on a family farm near London, Ontario. He moved to Newmarket in 1980 to work as a bank branch manager and spent thirty years in banking, later serving as president of the local Chamber of Commerce. He was elected to Newmarket Town Council in 2000 and served as mayor from 2006 to 2018. During his time as mayor, he was instrumental in creating Belinda's Place, a multi-purpose facility for homeless and at-risk women. He was first elected to Parliament in 2019.

Harold Kim (Conservative) — Kim came to Canada from Korea in the 1970s with his parents, who started a small business in midtown Toronto. He attended Queen's University, majoring in geography, then spent twenty-three years in wealth management in Toronto. He was elected to Aurora Town Council in 2014 and became Deputy Mayor in 2018 after receiving the most votes. He serves on the Finance Advisory Committee, the Aurora Economic Development Board, and the Anti-Black/Anti-Racism Task Force. He is a classical violinist and marathon runner.

Yvonne Kelly (NDP) — A social worker with thirty years of community development experience, Kelly is the chair of the Social Planning Council of York Region and co-founder of the Affordable Housing Coalition of York Region. A mother of five and grandmother of two, she ran for the NDP in Newmarket—Aurora for the third consecutive election in 2021, advocating for affordable housing, pharmacare, childcare, and bold climate action.

Andre Gagnon (PPC) — Gagnon is the People's Party of Canada candidate, running on the party's platform of fiscal conservatism, reduced government intervention, and opposition to pandemic-related mandates.

About the Riding

Newmarket—Aurora has been a competitive riding that has swung between the Liberals and Conservatives in successive elections, reflecting the political dynamics of suburban York Region. The riding contains several institutional anchors, including the Regional Municipality of York Region headquarters in Newmarket and Southlake Regional Health Centre—a 400-bed hospital that serves a catchment area of approximately 250,000 residents and accommodates more than 90,000 emergency department visits annually.

The riding's economy is diversified across manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and professional services. Auto parts manufacturer Magna International—one of the world's largest automotive suppliers—is headquartered in neighbouring Aurora and is the largest industrial employer in the area. Newmarket's Main Street, recognized as a Provincial Heritage Conservation District in 2013, has served as a hub of commerce and cultural activity for over a century, while Upper Canada Mall at Yonge and Davis Drive—with more than 200 stores—anchors the town's modern retail core.

Affordable housing, healthcare capacity, and transit connectivity were the dominant local issues heading into the 2021 election. Southlake Regional Health Centre's nursing staffing levels were a topic of community debate. Housing prices in York Region had escalated sharply, placing homeownership further out of reach for younger residents. The extension of the Yonge subway line northward from Toronto—a project that had been discussed for decades—remained a top transit priority for commuters who depend on GO Transit and Highway 404 to reach employment in Toronto.