Calgary Skyview

Calgary Skyview occupies the far-northeast corner of the city, bounded roughly by Deerfoot Trail and Centre Street to the west, the city's northern limits to the north, and the eastern municipal boundary — abutting Rocky View County — to the east. The riding was carved from the former Calgary Northeast district in the 2012 redistribution and first contested in 2015. It encompasses communities surrounding the Calgary International Airport — though the airport itself was redistributed into the adjacent Calgary Shepard and later Calgary McKnight boundaries — including Skyview Ranch, Redstone, Saddle Ridge, Taradale, Martindale, Castleridge, Falconridge, Coral Springs, Saddletowne, Pineridge, and Temple. The 2021 census recorded a population of approximately 115,300, with Punjabi as the second most commonly spoken mother tongue at 16.7 per cent, followed by Urdu at 6.5 per cent.

Candidates

George Chahal (Liberal) was born in Calgary in 1975 to parents who had immigrated from the United Kingdom. He holds a BA in economics and a master's degree in environmental design from the University of Calgary. Before entering federal politics he worked in finance, construction, and development, and served as the City Councillor for Ward 5 from 2017 to 2021, focusing on transit, affordable housing, and community safety in northeast Calgary.

Jag Sahota (Conservative) was born in Calgary in 1978 and is of Punjabi Sikh heritage. She was elected to represent Calgary Skyview in 2019, becoming the riding's first Conservative member, after previously contesting the 2015 Alberta provincial election in Calgary-McCall.

Gurinder Singh Gill (NDP) is a lifelong Calgarian and the son of immigrants who worked multiple jobs to support their family. While studying accounting at university he served as president of Enactus, a student organization dedicated to community empowerment. He had improved the NDP's standing in the riding from 8 per cent in 2015 to 16 per cent in his 2021 campaign.

Harry Dhillon (PPC) has lived in Calgary since 1991 and spent over a decade as a small-business owner in the city after an earlier career in real estate. He has been politically active for many years, including a run as a mayoral candidate in Calgary in 2004 and PPC candidacies in both the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

About the Riding

Calgary Skyview is among the most ethnically diverse federal ridings in western Canada. South Asian communities — particularly Punjabi- and Urdu-speaking families — form the largest visible-minority segment, alongside significant Filipino, Chinese, and East African populations. The riding's cultural landscape is reflected in its commercial corridors: International Avenue (17 Avenue SE) and the strip malls along Falconridge Boulevard and Castleridge Boulevard are lined with halal grocers, Punjabi sweet shops, Filipino restaurants, Vietnamese bakeries, and African specialty stores.

The riding's housing stock is predominantly post-1980 suburban development, with older communities such as Castleridge (established 1980), Falconridge, and Pineridge giving way to newer master-planned subdivisions farther north. Skyview Ranch, established in 2011, and Redstone represent the development frontier, with townhouses and starter homes attracting young immigrant families priced out of more central neighbourhoods. Saddle Ridge and Taradale, both developed in the 2000s, have grown rapidly and are home to large Sikh gurdwaras, Islamic centres, and evangelical churches that serve as community anchors.

Transportation has been a persistent concern. The northeast Green Line LRT extension remained in planning during the 2021 campaign, and residents rely heavily on bus service along 36 Street NE and the existing Saddletowne and Martindale CTrain stations on the Blue Line. Commuters travelling to downtown or the southern industrial parks face lengthy trips along Deerfoot Trail and McKnight Boulevard.

The 2021 contest in Calgary Skyview was one of the most closely watched races in Alberta. The riding had elected its first-ever Conservative member in 2019, and the Liberal campaign — led by a former city councillor with deep roots in the northeast — sought to flip the seat by mobilizing the riding's large and growing immigrant electorate. The outcome hinged on turnout in the newer subdivisions and on the degree to which the riding's South Asian voters would split among the three major parties.