Parry Sound—Muskoka

Parry Sound—Muskoka is the southernmost riding in northern Ontario, spanning the Territorial District of Parry Sound and the District Municipality of Muskoka across more than 12,000 square kilometres of Canadian Shield terrain. The landscape is defined by mixed forests, rocky shorelines, and hundreds of lakes that have made the region synonymous with Ontario's cottage country. Major communities include Huntsville, Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Parry Sound, and the township municipalities of Seguin, Lake of Bays, Georgian Bay, and Muskoka Lakes. The riding's northern reaches extend to the French River and Dokis First Nation, while the eastern boundary takes in the Town of Kearney in Nipissing District. The 30,000 Islands of Georgian Bay line the western shore.

The combined population of the Parry Sound and Muskoka census divisions was approximately 113,500 in the 2021 census. An estimated 100,000 additional seasonal residents swell the population during summer months. The riding skews older than the provincial average, and approximately five percent of residents identify as Indigenous. English is the overwhelmingly dominant mother tongue, and average individual income sits at roughly $43,000.

Candidates

Scott Aitchison (Conservative) — Born and raised in Huntsville, Aitchison was first elected to Huntsville Town Council in 1994 at the age of 21 and served three terms before being elected Mayor of Huntsville in 2014. During his tenure as mayor, he oversaw the development of the De Novo Treatment Centre for addiction counselling. He also served as a Muskoka District Councillor and Deputy Mayor. Before entering politics full-time, he worked in real estate sales and with Fowler Construction. He was first elected to Parliament in 2019 and was seeking his second term.

Jovanie Nicoyishakiye (Liberal) — Nicoyishakiye immigrated to Canada from Burundi as a young child and became a French teacher with the Toronto Catholic District School Board. She served as chair of the Etobicoke Centre riding association in 2018 and has been the ambassador of the Angel Foundation for Learning within her school community since 2012. She was acclaimed as the Liberal candidate for the riding.

Heather Hay (NDP) — A Gravenhurst resident, Hay served as coordinator for Elder Abuse Prevention Muskoka. She holds a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Saskatchewan and was a founding member of the human rights group Out North in Yellowknife during the 1980s. Between 2017 and 2020, she served as president of Fierté Canada Pride, the national association of Pride organizations in Canada.

James Tole (PPC) — Tole is a retired secondary school science and mathematics teacher who spent his career with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board before teaching part-time as a contract professor of mathematics at Canadore College in Parry Sound. Prior to education, he worked in the chemical industry in research and development, instrumental analysis, quality control, and chemical plant management.

About the Riding

Parry Sound—Muskoka's economy revolves around tourism, seasonal recreation, and the service sector. The Muskoka region draws over two million visitors annually to its lakes, resorts, golf courses, and ski hills, and the area has been a destination for vacationing Ontarians since the steamship era of the late nineteenth century. Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands offer kayaking, sailing, and sightseeing tours. The seasonal cottage economy creates a distinct set of pressures—dramatic population swings between summer and winter strain infrastructure, and rising property values driven by urban buyers have made affordable year-round housing increasingly scarce.

Healthcare access is a persistent concern across the riding. The distance between communities and specialized medical services poses challenges, particularly for the significant senior population. Recruitment and retention of family physicians, nurses, and personal support workers in rural and northern communities has been a longstanding issue. Broadband internet and cellular connectivity remain uneven in the more remote parts of the riding, a gap that became more acute as residents turned to remote work and virtual services.

The riding has been reliably Conservative territory at the federal level, with its rural character, older demographic profile, and seasonal-economy workforce shaping a political landscape that favours fiscal conservatism and skepticism of centralized regulation. The region's dependence on natural resources and tourism makes environmental stewardship a matter of both ecological and economic concern—water quality in the lakes, forest management, and climate resilience are issues that cut across partisan lines.