Scarborough North

Scarborough North covers the northeastern quadrant of Scarborough, running from Steeles Avenue along the city's boundary with Markham in the north to Highway 401 in the south, and from Midland Avenue in the west to the Rouge River in the east. The riding takes in the neighbourhoods of Agincourt (east of Midland Avenue), Milliken (east of Midland Avenue), Morningside Heights, and Malvern. The 2021 census recorded a population of approximately 116,200.

Scarborough North is one of the most diverse ridings in Canada. Visible minorities account for roughly 86 percent of the population—among the highest proportions in any federal electoral district—while only about 7.5 percent of residents identify as White. South Asian Canadians represent the largest single group at approximately 26.8 percent, with significant Chinese, Black, and Filipino communities. Tamil speakers make up 8.6 percent of the population, making the riding home to one of the largest Tamil-speaking communities in the country. The Malvern neighbourhood alone is home to more than 60 distinct cultural groups.

Candidates

Shaun Chen (Liberal) — Born in Toronto to Hakka Chinese parents from India, Chen was raised in Scarborough and attended Sir John A. Macdonald Collegiate Institute before studying at the University of Toronto. He served as a trustee on the Toronto District School Board representing Ward 21, and in 2014 became the first Scarborough trustee elected as Chair of the Board. He resigned the position in August 2015 to run for Parliament. First elected in 2015, he was seeking his third term. Chen received the Ontario Medal for Young Volunteers and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Fazal Shah (Conservative) — Shah was the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for Scarborough North in the 2021 election.

Christina Love (NDP) — Love was the New Democratic Party candidate for Scarborough North in the 2021 election.

David Moore (PPC) — Moore was the People's Party of Canada candidate for Scarborough North in the 2021 election.

About the Riding

Scarborough North was created through the 2012 federal redistribution and first contested in 2015. Its neighbourhoods reflect successive waves of immigration that have reshaped northeastern Scarborough over the past four decades. Milliken—home to what has been described as the highest concentration of visible minorities of any neighbourhood in Toronto, at 97 percent—features a vibrant commercial landscape of Chinese and South Asian shopping plazas, restaurants, and community institutions. Malvern, in the riding's eastern half, has historically been one of Toronto's most economically challenged communities, with higher-than-average rates of poverty, youth unemployment, and reliance on social housing, alongside deep community resilience and cultural richness.

The riding is overwhelmingly residential, with large tracts of townhouse complexes, apartment buildings, and post-war suburban homes. Transit access is a defining issue: residents rely heavily on bus routes feeding into the Scarborough Town Centre station and the Kennedy and Finch transit hubs, and commute times to employment centres in central Toronto are among the longest in the city. The extension of rapid transit into northeastern Scarborough has been a persistent demand.

Community safety, youth programming, affordable housing, and settlement services for newcomers are central to the riding's political life. The area's Sri Lankan Tamil community—one of the largest concentrations outside Sri Lanka—has established cultural organizations, temples, and businesses that are integral to the neighbourhood's identity. Scarborough North's extraordinary diversity and its concentration of working-class immigrant families give the riding a political character distinct from more affluent parts of Toronto.