University--Rosedale

University--Rosedale is a federal riding in the heart of Toronto that encompasses the University of Toronto's St. George campus and a diverse collection of surrounding neighbourhoods, including Rosedale, Yorkville, the Annex, Kensington Market, Chinatown, Harbord Village, and parts of the Discovery District. The riding is defined by the interplay between the city's intellectual and cultural institutions, its wealthiest residential enclave in Rosedale, and the vibrant, bohemian market districts of Kensington and Chinatown. The riding was held by Chrystia Freeland from 2015 through the 2025 election.

Candidates

Chrystia Freeland (Liberal) won re-election with a dominant margin. A journalist-turned-politician, Freeland holds degrees from Harvard University and the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She held editorial positions at the Financial Times, the Globe and Mail, and Reuters, and authored two acclaimed books on economics and global inequality. First elected in 2013 in a Toronto Centre by-election, Freeland served as Minister of International Trade, Minister of Foreign Affairs -- where she led Canada's negotiation of the CUSMA trade agreement -- and in 2019 became Deputy Prime Minister, the first woman to hold the title. In 2020, she became Canada's first female Minister of Finance. In December 2024, Freeland resigned from cabinet in a public dispute with Prime Minister Trudeau over fiscal policy, citing disagreement over spending priorities as Canada faced the threat of US tariffs. She subsequently ran for the Liberal leadership but lost to Mark Carney.

Liz Grade (Conservative) is a real estate broker and entrepreneur who launched an industrial export business at age 28 before moving into property renovation and real estate in Toronto and Etobicoke. She holds a degree in interior design and has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and Villa Charities.

Serena Purdy (NDP) is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto working on health systems research. She is the former chair of Friends of Kensington Market and helped establish short-term rental by-laws by organizing community opposition to Airbnb. She supported the creation of the Kensington Market Community Land Trust and organized no-barrier vaccination clinics for underserved residents during the pandemic.

Ignacio Mongrell (Green Party) ran as the Green Party candidate.

Drew Garvie (Communist) ran for the Communist Party of Canada.

About the Riding

University--Rosedale contains some of Toronto's sharpest socioeconomic contrasts within a compact geography. Rosedale, with its ravine-set mansions, is one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in Canada, while Kensington Market is a scrappy, multicultural commercial district where Portuguese, Chinese, Caribbean, and Latin American vendors have operated for generations. Yorkville, once a bohemian enclave, is now Toronto's luxury retail and hotel district. The University of Toronto campus brings approximately 90,000 students and faculty into the riding, shaping its demographics and its politics.

The riding's political dynamics in 2025 were overshadowed by Freeland's extraordinary national profile. Her December 2024 resignation from cabinet, delivered via a pointed public letter criticizing Trudeau's fiscal direction, made her one of the most prominent figures in the political crisis that preceded the 2025 election. Despite losing the Liberal leadership race to Carney, Freeland ran again in University--Rosedale and won convincingly.

Housing affordability, particularly for the large student and renter population in the Annex, Harbord Village, and Chinatown, was a central campaign issue. Kensington Market's ongoing battles over short-term rental regulation and commercial gentrification reflected broader anxieties about neighbourhood character and displacement. The University of Toronto's institutional presence raised questions about campus expansion, student housing, and town-gown relations. Freeland's dominant victory underscored the riding's deep Liberal alignment, though her subsequent resignation from Parliament in early 2026 to take on an international advisory role meant the riding would soon face another contest.