Kitchener--Conestoga

Kitchener--Conestoga is Waterloo Region's most rural federal riding, wrapping around the northern and western edges of the urban core. The riding combines the southwestern portion of the City of Kitchener with the townships of Woolwich, Wellesley, and Wilmot, taking in communities including Elmira, St. Jacobs, New Hamburg, Baden, and Wellesley Village. The area is home to one of Canada's largest Mennonite populations, and Old Order horse-and-buggy traffic shares country roads with commuter vehicles heading into the tri-cities. The Conestogo, Grand, and Nith rivers wind through the riding's mix of productive farmland and growing suburban subdivisions, a tension that defined the 2025 campaign.

Candidates

Tim Louis (Liberal) is the incumbent, first elected in 2019 when he defeated long-time Conservative MP Harold Albrecht. An American-born Canadian citizen, Louis holds a Bachelor of Arts in music from Rutgers University and built a career as an award-winning professional singer-songwriter, recording four solo albums and performing across Canada and internationally. He hosted a weekly jazz radio show for seven years and has volunteered extensively in Waterloo Region, including with Women's Crisis Services, Meals on Wheels, and the Rotary Club. A resident of Kitchener's Forest Heights neighbourhood for more than 25 years, Louis championed the proposed Canada Farmland Protection Act during the 2025 campaign.

Doug Treleaven (Conservative) is a St. Jacobs resident and technology entrepreneur who grew up in Fergus, Ontario. After attending the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University, he led the audit technology team of a global risk consulting firm. In 2013, he founded ThinkLP, a fraud prevention software company that earned recognition as one of Canada's fastest-growing companies before a successful exit in 2023. Treleaven holds an MBA and was named one of Waterloo Region's Top 40 Under 40. He served on the Wilfrid Laurier University Board of Governors.

Maya Bozorgzad (NDP) is a civil litigation lawyer and small business owner living in Wilmot Township. She moved to the Kitchener area at age ten with her immigrant family, studied law at Western University where she volunteered with Community Legal Services providing free legal assistance, and returned to the region to build her practice.

Kevin Dupuis (People's Party) ran on a platform emphasizing individual liberties and reduced government intervention.

About the Riding

The dominant local issue in 2025 was the proposed expropriation of approximately 770 acres of prime farmland in Wilmot Township, northeast of the intersection of Nafziger and Bleams roads, for industrial development. The Ontario government's plan to rezone the agricultural land ignited fierce opposition from farmers, Mennonite communities, and the broader Fight for Farmland movement, making property rights and food sovereignty central campaign themes. Candidates across party lines were pressed to take positions on the land assembly, and the issue drew national attention to the broader question of disappearing agricultural land in southern Ontario.

Beyond the farmland fight, the riding's economy blends agriculture, manufacturing, and the knowledge-sector spillover from the Kitchener-Waterloo technology corridor. Tourism centred on St. Jacobs and its famous farmers' market draws visitors year-round. Housing affordability emerged as a growing concern as suburban development pushed outward from Kitchener into the townships, and residents raised questions about whether rural infrastructure could keep pace with population growth.