Burnaby North—Seymour

Burnaby North—Seymour straddles the northern half of the City of Burnaby and the eastern portion of the District of North Vancouver, connected across Burrard Inlet. Created during the 2012 federal redistribution, the riding encompasses Burnaby's neighbourhoods north of Highway 7—including the slopes of Burnaby Mountain, home to Simon Fraser University—and the section of North Vancouver east of the Seymour River, along with a southern strip between Lynn Creek and the Seymour River. The population of approximately 116,000 lives in a mix of high-rise towers near transit corridors, established suburban homes in the Capitol Hill and Burnaby Heights areas, and quieter residential streets in the forested foothills of the North Shore mountains.

The riding is one of the most linguistically diverse in Canada. According to census data, 58.2% of residents report English as their mother tongue, while 10.1% speak Cantonese, 7.7% speak Mandarin, 2.9% Italian, 2.6% Korean, and 1.8% Persian. Religiously, 44.8% identify as Christian, 3.6% as Buddhist, and 2.9% as Muslim. The mix of East Asian, South Asian, and European-origin communities gives the riding a cosmopolitan character shaped heavily by successive waves of immigration.

Candidates

Terry Beech (Liberal) Born in 1981, Beech was elected to Nanaimo City Council at the age of 18 before pursuing a double major in business and economics at Simon Fraser University, followed by an MBA at Oxford. With his twin brother Doug, he co-founded the non-profit Twinbro Local Leaders, focused on helping students access post-secondary scholarships, and the technology company HireTheWorld. First elected in 2015 in Burnaby North—Seymour, Beech was re-elected in 2019 and again in 2021 with 39.4% of the vote. He held parliamentary secretary roles under several federal ministers, including those responsible for science, fisheries, transport, and finance. He lives in North Burnaby with his wife Ravi and their two daughters.

Jim Hanson (NDP) A lifelong North Vancouver resident, Hanson is a two-term District of North Vancouver councillor, first elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2018. He is the founder of the personal injury law firm Hanson and Company. Former NDP MP Svend Robinson, who represented Burnaby constituents in Parliament from 1979 to 2004, endorsed Hanson's candidacy. Hanson's campaign focused on housing affordability, citing his personal connection to the issue as someone whose family has lived on both sides of Burrard Inlet.

Kelsey Shein (Conservative) Born in Vancouver and raised around the family's North Vancouver small business, Shein was 31 at the time of the election. The Shein family were founding members of the Lower Lonsdale Business Association. She studied at UBC Okanagan in Kelowna, later worked on Parliament Hill for British Columbia MPs, and joined the Canadian Medical Association before returning home.

Peter Dolling (Green Party) Dolling stood as the Green Party candidate in the riding, contributing environmental and sustainability priorities to the local campaign debate.

About the Riding

Simon Fraser University, perched atop Burnaby Mountain in Arthur Erickson's landmark terraced campus, is the riding's most prominent institution. The university enrolls tens of thousands of students and is a major employer. Its hilltop setting—surrounded by forest trails and overlooking Burrard Inlet and the North Shore mountains—gives the northern half of the Burnaby portion of the riding a campus-town character, with student housing, transit connections via the SFU Gondola proposal, and surrounding parkland shaping development patterns.

Transportation infrastructure is central to the riding's identity. The Trans-Canada Highway and Lougheed Highway cut east–west through Burnaby, while the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing links the Burnaby and North Vancouver portions of the riding across Burrard Inlet. The Expo Line SkyTrain runs through the riding's southern edge, and the debate over expanding rapid transit up Burnaby Mountain has been a recurring local issue. The Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, which runs through Burnaby to the Westridge Marine Terminal on Burrard Inlet, was a prominent and divisive issue in the riding during the 2019 and 2021 campaigns.

The North Vancouver side of the riding is defined by mountain recreation and a suburban-residential character. Residents have access to hiking, mountain biking, and skiing on Mount Seymour, and the Seymour River valley provides protected watershed and parkland. Housing affordability is the dominant concern across the riding, as rising real estate prices and limited rental vacancy rates squeeze both young families and long-time residents. The riding's proximity to downtown Vancouver, combined with its natural amenities, has driven steady demand that outpaces new construction.