Papineau

Papineau is a densely populated federal riding in the heart of Montreal, famous as the constituency that former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau represented from 2008 until his resignation as Liberal leader in early 2025. The riding's open-seat race attracted significant national attention as voters chose a successor to one of Canada's most prominent political figures.

Candidates

Marjorie Michel (Liberal) -- A Haitian-Canadian politician with a master's degree in social and organizational psychology from the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium, Michel entered politics in 2016 as a policy adviser to Minister Jean-Yves Duclos. She later served as a parliamentary affairs director at Employment and Social Development Canada and became deputy chief of staff in the office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2021, the first Black person to hold that position. She was the daughter of former Haitian Prime Minister Smarck Michel.

Sophy Forget Bélec (Bloc Québécois) -- A political staffer who had been involved in politics since 2017, Forget Bélec worked as an attachée politique for Bloc MP Mario Beaulieu after submitting parliamentary briefs in 2021. A resident of east Montreal and an advocate for Quebec sovereignty, she previously worked as a family childcare provider.

Niall Ricardo (NDP) -- A 32-year-old Toronto-born candidate who grew up in Europe, Ricardo was completing his Bar practice and pursuing a master's in international law at the time of the campaign. He was active in labour organizing and had been involved in advocacy for Palestinian rights through Independent Jewish Voices.

Julio Rivera (Conservative) -- Rivera carried the Conservative banner in Papineau, a riding where the party has historically struggled to gain traction in a strongly Liberal-leaning, multicultural urban electorate.

Xavier Watso (Parti Rhinocéros Party) -- The satirical Rhinoceros Party's candidate, Watso added a touch of political humour to the Papineau ballot.

Noah Cherney (People's Party - PPC) -- Cherney represented the People's Party of Canada, offering voters a populist-right alternative.

About the Riding

Papineau is Canada's second-smallest federal riding by area, a compact rectangle of urban Montreal bounded roughly by Autoroute 40 to the north, Boulevard de l'Acadie to the west, Rue Jean-Talon to the south, and 24th Avenue to the east. It takes in the neighbourhoods of Villeray, Park Extension, and the southern portion of Saint-Michel in the borough of Villeray--Saint-Michel--Parc-Extension.

The riding is one of the most diverse in Canada. Nearly four in ten residents are immigrants, with major communities from Algeria, Haiti, and Greece alongside growing populations from South Asia and Latin America. Park Extension, tucked between the CP Rail tracks and the Town of Mount Royal, is one of Montreal's most densely populated and multicultural neighbourhoods, a traditional landing point for new arrivals to the city. Villeray, to the east, has a more established francophone character but has become increasingly diverse.

The transition from Trudeau to Michel marked a new chapter for the riding. Michel's deep roots in the Haitian-Canadian community and her extensive experience in the Liberal machinery helped her carry the seat comfortably, continuing the Liberal tradition in a riding the party has held since Trudeau's initial 2008 victory.