Pickering--Brooklin

Pickering--Brooklin is a suburban riding in the western Durham Region east of Toronto, redrawn and renamed through the 2022 redistribution from the former Pickering--Uxbridge constituency. The new boundaries shed the rural Township of Uxbridge to the new York--Durham riding and added the portion of the Town of Whitby north of Highway 407, including the fast-growing Brooklin community. The riding is centred on the City of Pickering, a municipality of more than 100,000 people that straddles the boundary between the Greater Toronto Area's urban sprawl and the remaining agricultural and green space to the north and east.

Candidates

Juanita Nathan (Liberal)* is an educator and community advocate who served as a city councillor on Markham City Council from 2022 to 2025 and as chair of the York Region District School Board. She succeeded Jennifer O'Connell, who had represented the predecessor riding of Pickering--Uxbridge since 2015 but announced in early 2025 that she would not seek re-election.

Alicia Vianga (Conservative) is an entrepreneur and community advocate who helped establish the CML Village Business Improvement Area in Pickering to strengthen relationships between residents and local businesses. Her campaign focused on affordability, housing, community safety, and the need for change after years of Liberal government.

Jamie Nye (NDP) stood as the New Democratic Party candidate in the riding.

Lisa Robinson (People's Party) represented the People's Party of Canada in the contest.

Andrea Wood (Green Party) ran as the Green Party candidate.

About the Riding

Pickering sits at a crossroads between Toronto's eastward suburban expansion and the more rural character of Durham Region. The city's southern section, along the Lake Ontario waterfront, includes the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, one of the largest nuclear power facilities in the world and a major local employer. The federal government's cancellation of the proposed Pickering airport in January 2025--after decades of reserving lands in north Pickering for a potential airport--was a significant local issue, with residents and politicians debating the future use of the federal lands for housing, agriculture, or green space.

Brooklin, the northern portion of the riding in the Town of Whitby, is one of the fastest-growing communities in Durham Region, with new subdivisions, schools, and commercial developments transforming what was recently a small village. The addition of Brooklin to the riding introduced a population of young families dealing with the pressures of new-community growing pains: school capacity, traffic congestion, and limited local services.

In 2025, housing affordability was the dominant concern across the riding, as prices in Pickering and Brooklin remained elevated relative to local incomes. Transit connectivity--particularly GO train service and the extension of higher-order transit into Durham Region--was a key issue for commuters making the daily journey into Toronto. The riding's diverse population, which includes significant South Asian, Caribbean, and Filipino communities, brought immigration, settlement services, and credential recognition into the campaign conversation.