Toronto--Danforth

Toronto--Danforth is a federal riding in the east end of Toronto, stretching from the Don River eastward through the neighbourhoods of Riverdale, Leslieville, Greektown, East Chinatown, Little India, and portions of East York. The riding follows the Danforth Avenue corridor, one of Toronto's most established commercial streets, and includes a patchwork of Victorian residential streets, gentrifying industrial areas, and diverse ethnic enclaves. The riding has the highest concentration of Greek-Canadians in Toronto and significant Chinese and South Asian communities. Liberal Julie Dabrusin has held the seat since 2015.

Candidates

Julie Dabrusin (Liberal) won her fourth consecutive election with a commanding margin. A lawyer by training, Dabrusin practiced litigation for 13 years at Rogers Partners LLP and served as commission counsel for the Toronto External Contracts Inquiry before entering politics in 2015. In Parliament, she served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and later to the Ministers of Environment and Climate Change and Energy and Natural Resources.

Ashik Hussain (Conservative) is a recent graduate of the University of Toronto who has held various positions within the Conservative Party, including campaign volunteer and constituency assistant.

Clare Hacksel (NDP) is a midwife and community advocate with a Master's degree in Social Policy from the University of Oxford and more than 15 years of leadership experience in the healthcare and social services sector. She also ran as the NDP candidate in the riding in 2021.

Silvia Stardust (Green Party) ran as the Green Party candidate.

Liz White (Animal Protection Party) is a veteran minor-party candidate and animal rights activist who has run in numerous federal elections as a candidate for the Animal Protection Party of Canada.

About the Riding

Toronto--Danforth occupies a unique position in Canadian political history. It was the riding of the late NDP leader Jack Layton, who represented it from 2004 until his death in 2011. Layton's personal popularity and the NDP's deep roots in the neighbourhood made the riding a symbolic stronghold for the party, but Liberal Craig Scott won a 2012 by-election, and the riding has remained Liberal since Dabrusin's first victory in 2015.

The riding's neighbourhoods reflect its eclectic character. Greektown along the Danforth is home to the annual Taste of the Danforth festival and a concentration of Greek restaurants and businesses. Leslieville and Riverside have experienced rapid gentrification, with former industrial properties converted to condominiums, breweries, and creative studios. Riverdale remains a mix of families and longtime residents in Victorian and Edwardian homes. East York, in the riding's northern section, retains a working- and middle-class character with stronger conservative leanings than the riding's southern neighbourhoods.

In the 2025 campaign, affordability and housing dominated voter concerns, as gentrification and condo development continued to reshape the riding's demographics. Healthcare access, transit reliability, and the future of the Ontario Line -- a planned rapid transit route that would intersect the riding -- were also significant local issues. Despite limited campaign activity from the Conservative candidate, the party's vote share rose notably in this traditionally left-leaning riding, reflecting the broader Conservative surge in downtown Toronto, though Dabrusin's deep community roots and the Liberal brand under Carney carried the day decisively.