Scarborough Southwest

Scarborough Southwest covers the southwestern portion of Toronto's Scarborough district, stretching along the Lake Ontario shoreline from Victoria Park Avenue in the west to Markham Road in the east, and north to Eglinton Avenue. The riding takes in the neighbourhoods of Birch Cliff, Cliffcrest, Cliffside, Scarborough Village, Ionview, and Oakridge, along with the spectacular Scarborough Bluffs -- a 14-kilometre stretch of glacial-era cliffs rising up to 65 metres above the lake. The riding is home to the largest Bangladeshi Canadian community in Canada, alongside significant Tamil, Filipino, Chinese, Caribbean, Eastern European, and East African populations. Bengali, Tagalog, and Cantonese are the most common non-official mother tongues.

Candidates

Bill Blair (Liberal) is the incumbent, first elected in 2015 and serving a fourth term. Before entering politics, Blair spent more than 30 years with the Toronto Police Service, rising through assignments in drug enforcement, organized crime, and major criminal investigations before being appointed Chief of Police in 2005 -- overseeing the largest municipal police service in Canada. In Parliament, Blair held a succession of senior cabinet portfolios including Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and Minister of National Defence from 2023 to 2025.

Asm Tarun (Conservative) is a family physician and health-care executive who established six primary and specialist clinics across the Greater Toronto Area. A dedicated advocate for immigrant communities, Dr. ASM Noorullah Tarun emphasized affordability and pragmatic engagement with the United States during his campaign.

Fatima Shaban (NDP) arrived in Canada in 2008 and became deeply rooted in the Scarborough Southwest community. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in criminology and socio-legal studies, with minors in political science and history, and founded an association advocating for undocumented youth's right to a legal path to citizenship. She works as a community agency worker.

Amanda Cain (Green Party) ran as the Green Party candidate in the riding.

Michael Poulin (People's Party) also stood as a candidate.

About the Riding

The Scarborough Bluffs are the riding's defining natural landmark, drawing visitors from across the GTA to Bluffer's Park, Scarborough Bluffs Park, and the waterfront trail. The cliffs, sculpted by wave erosion and glacial deposits, are both a recreational asset and an ongoing environmental management challenge, as erosion threatens properties along the cliff edge.

Kingston Road, the riding's main commercial artery, has undergone significant revitalization in recent years. The corridor is envisioned as a future mixed-use transit hub, with proposals for higher-order transit and increased density that have generated both enthusiasm and concern among long-time residents.

In 2025, affordability dominated the campaign. The riding's average individual income sits well below the Toronto median, and roughly half the workforce holds precarious or part-time employment. Rising rents in the riding's many apartment buildings -- some dating from the 1960s and 1970s -- placed acute pressure on immigrant families and seniors on fixed incomes. Health-care access at Scarborough's hospitals, already strained by population growth, remained a persistent concern. National defence and sovereignty also featured prominently given Blair's role as the outgoing defence minister, with US trade tensions and Canada's military preparedness resonating in a riding whose representative had been at the centre of those discussions.