Surrey Centre

Surrey Centre covers the heart of Surrey, British Columbia — Canada's second-fastest-growing major city, with a 2021 census population of approximately 568,300. The riding is centred on the Whalley neighbourhood and Surrey's emerging downtown core, where the SkyTrain's Expo Line provides four stations — Gateway, Scott Road, Surrey Central, and King George Boulevard — connecting the area to Vancouver and the broader Metro Vancouver transit network. The riding extends into adjacent residential areas and encompasses Surrey City Hall, the City Centre Library, Surrey Arts Centre, and campuses of both Simon Fraser University and Kwantlen Polytechnic University. The 2021 census recorded a riding population of approximately 131,700.

Candidates

Randeep Sarai (Liberal) — The incumbent MP, first elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2019. Born and raised in Burnaby to Sikh parents who immigrated from Punjab, India, Sarai earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of British Columbia and a law degree from Queen's University. He practised law in Surrey before entering politics and served as chair of the Liberal Party Pacific caucus.

Sonia Andhi (NDP) — A social worker and mental health specialist with over 30 years of experience serving families in Surrey. Andhi founded the Shakti Society and Shakti Awards, a platform empowering women, children, and families, and received the Surrey Board of Trade's Women in Business Social Trailblazer Award. She is an active member of the Health Sciences Association of BC.

Tina Bains (Conservative) — A government employee with over 20 years of public-sector experience. Bains also ran as the Conservative candidate in the riding in the 2019 federal election.

Joe Kennedy (PPC) — A small business owner, arbitrator, and business consultant running in his first foray into electoral politics. Kennedy campaigned on addressing Surrey's housing affordability crisis and reducing government spending.

About the Riding

Surrey Centre sits at the nexus of the city's rapid transformation from a suburban bedroom community into a regional urban centre. The City Centre Plan, endorsed by council in 2017, envisions a dense, transit-oriented downtown built around the SkyTrain corridor. High-rise residential and mixed-use towers were rising along King George Boulevard and 104th Avenue, reshaping the skyline. But the pace of development outstripped the delivery of supporting infrastructure — schools, parks, community centres, and healthcare facilities struggled to keep up with population growth.

The riding is one of the most ethnically diverse in Metro Vancouver. Large South Asian and East Asian communities shaped the riding's cultural life, commerce, and political engagement. Sikhism is the second most common religious affiliation in the broader city of Surrey at 27.4 percent, and places of worship, community centres, and ethnic grocery stores line the commercial corridors. Approximately 30 percent of Surrey's population reported Christianity as their affiliation, while 28.6 percent reported no religious affiliation.

Public safety was a persistent campaign issue. The Whalley neighbourhood had long contended with visible homelessness, street-level drug activity, and property crime, even as condo towers rose blocks away. Surrey's 2018 decision to transition from RCMP to a municipal police force was a polarizing local issue that divided opinion across party lines. Candidates debated the cost, timeline, and wisdom of the policing transition throughout the campaign.

Transit expansion was another major concern. The Surrey–Langley SkyTrain extension — a project to carry rapid transit south along Fraser Highway — was in planning stages, and residents pressed candidates on federal funding commitments. Affordable housing was equally urgent: Surrey's rapidly rising home prices and limited rental stock meant that even middle-income families faced severe housing stress.