Don Valley North

Don Valley North occupies the northeastern corner of the former North York district within the City of Toronto, stretching from Steeles Avenue at the city's northern boundary south to Sheppard Avenue, and from Bayview Avenue east to Victoria Park Avenue. The riding includes the neighbourhoods of Bayview Village, Henry Farm, Hillcrest Village, Don Valley Village, and Pleasant View. It is one of the most ethnically diverse ridings in the Greater Toronto Area, with a large Chinese-Canadian population—roughly a third of residents identify as being of Chinese origin—alongside significant Korean, South Asian, and Filipino communities. The riding's landscape is defined by high-rise apartment towers, postwar suburban homes, and commercial strips along major arterials such as Sheppard Avenue East and Leslie Street.

Candidates

Maggie Chi (Liberal) brings more than 12 years of public service experience at Toronto City Hall, where she worked as a policy and project advisor. She previously ran for Toronto city council in Ward 23 Scarborough North in 2018 and sought the Ontario Liberal nomination in Scarborough North in 2022. Chi was appointed as the Liberal candidate after former MP Han Dong announced he would not seek re-election.

Joe Tay (Conservative) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian actor, singer, and pro-democracy activist who had a 30-year career in Hong Kong's entertainment industry, including work with television broadcaster TVB. After participating in Hong Kong's 2019 pro-democracy protests, Tay relocated to Canada with his family in 2020. In December 2024, the Hong Kong Police Force's National Security Department issued a warrant for his arrest and placed a one-million-dollar bounty on him, alleging violations of the Hong Kong National Security Law. During the 2025 campaign, Canadian security officials identified a foreign "repression operation" targeting Tay, involving mock wanted posters and coordinated online disinformation.

Naila Saeed (NDP) is the CEO of EYES Childcare, where she has spent over two decades expanding accessible and affordable childcare services across Ontario. A mother of three and longtime riding resident, Saeed has served on her local school parent council and campaigned on housing affordability, healthcare, and the expansion of the ten-dollar-a-day childcare program.

Andrew Armstrong (Green Party) ran on the Green Party platform.

Xiaohua Gong (No Affiliation) ran as an independent candidate.

Ivan Milivojevic (People's Party) ran on the PPC platform.

About the Riding

Don Valley North entered the 2025 election carrying the weight of the foreign interference controversy that had defined its recent political history. Former MP Han Dong was expelled from the Liberal caucus in 2023 after allegations surfaced that he had communicated with a Chinese diplomat about the detention of two Canadians. CSIS assessments subsequently indicated that Chinese consulate officials had mobilized international students to vote at Dong's 2019 Liberal nomination meeting. Although Dong denied the allegations and a settlement with Global News acknowledged the Foreign Interference Commission's findings in his favour, the episode cast a long shadow over the riding.

The selection of Joe Tay as the Conservative candidate added another layer of complexity. His status as a wanted pro-democracy activist under the Hong Kong National Security Law made the race a live test case for foreign interference in Canadian elections, with Canada's election security task force publicly acknowledging a transnational repression operation against him during the campaign.

Beyond the geopolitical dimension, Don Valley North voters grappled with familiar urban concerns: housing affordability in a riding where high-rise development has intensified, healthcare access and family physician shortages, transit connectivity along the Sheppard corridor, and the cost of living. Chi won the seat for the Liberals, drawing on her local government experience and community networks, but the riding's unique intersection of diaspora politics, national security, and everyday municipal concerns makes it one of the most complex political environments in the country.