Orléans

Orléans is a suburban riding in the east end of Ottawa, encompassing the large, predominantly francophone community of Orléans along with the surrounding neighbourhoods and rural areas including Carlsbad Springs and Notre-Dame-des-Champs. One of the most bilingual ridings in Ontario, nearly 30 percent of residents identify French as their mother tongue, making it a major centre of Franco-Ontarian life. The riding has been a Liberal stronghold for decades, reflecting the area's deep connections to the federal public service and its diverse, middle-class population.

Candidates

Marie-France Lalonde (Liberal) is the incumbent, first elected federally in 2019 and re-elected in 2021 and 2025. Born in Ottawa into a Franco-Ontarian family, she grew up in Gatineau and has lived in Orléans since 1999. Lalonde holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from the Université du Québec en Outaouais and worked in the care sector, including at the Children's Aid Society and the Ottawa Hospital, before co-owning and managing Portobello Manor, a retirement residence in Orléans. She previously served as the Liberal MPP for Orléans from 2014 to 2019, holding cabinet portfolios including Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services and Minister of Francophone Affairs. In Ottawa, she has served as Parliamentary Secretary to several ministers, including National Defence.

Steve Mansour (Conservative) was born and raised in Orléans, where his parents owned a small local business. He studied at Carleton University and McGill University and has worked in federal politics and the federal public service, researching housing and climate policy.

Oulai B. Goué (NDP) is a teacher who previously started a communications business and worked for the United Nations Development Programme in Ivory Coast, where he grew up. His campaign focused on housing affordability, mental health care, and electoral reform.

Jaycob Jacques (Green Party) and Tafiqul Abu Mohammad (People's Party) also stood as candidates in the riding.

About the Riding

Orléans developed rapidly from a small village into one of Ottawa's largest suburban communities beginning in the 1970s and 1980s. Today it functions as a self-contained suburb with its own commercial centres, schools in both official languages, and community infrastructure, though most residents work in downtown Ottawa or in the federal government offices scattered across the National Capital Region. The Confederation Line LRT extension to Orléans, part of Stage 2 of Ottawa's light rail transit project, has been a long-anticipated infrastructure commitment that shaped local political debate for years.

The riding's population is notably diverse beyond its francophone core. Immigration has brought significant Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African communities to Orléans' newer subdivisions, making schools and community centres increasingly multilingual. The federal public service is the area's dominant employer, giving the riding a particular sensitivity to government hiring, pay systems, and workplace policies.

In 2025, the campaign in Orléans was shaped by affordability concerns common to Ottawa's suburbs: rising housing costs, childcare expenses, and grocery prices. The LRT extension's delays and cost overruns frustrated commuters who depend on reliable transit to reach downtown workplaces. The US trade dispute added a layer of economic anxiety, though the riding's public-service-heavy economy was somewhat insulated from direct tariff impacts. Francophone services, bilingual education funding, and support for newcomer integration were locally significant issues that reflected the riding's linguistic and cultural character.