St. Boniface—St. Vital

St. Boniface—St. Vital covers the southern portion of Winnipeg east of the Red River, encompassing the historic francophone neighbourhood of St. Boniface and the large residential community of St. Vital. The riding extends from the Norwood and Windsor Park neighbourhoods in the north through Southdale, Island Lakes, and the newer suburban development of Sage Creek in the south. It is the only riding in western Canada with a substantial francophone population — roughly 16 percent of residents reported French as a first official language in the 2021 census — and has a tradition of electing francophone or bilingual MPs. With longtime Liberal MP Dan Vandal not seeking re-election, the 2025 race was an open contest.

Candidates

Ginette Lavack (Liberal) is a proud Franco-Manitobaine raised in St. Boniface. She served as executive director of Festival du Voyageur, western Canada's largest winter festival, from 2010 to 2017, and then as chief executive officer of the Centre culturel franco-manitobain from 2017 to 2025, championing cultural growth, inclusivity, and economic vitality in Manitoba's francophone community. She was acclaimed as the Liberal candidate.

Shola Agboola (Conservative) holds a master's degree in public administration and a Canadian Chartered Director designation. He has served 18 years as a correctional officer in the Department of Justice and sits on the Conservative Party's federal leadership committee as Manitoba's representative. Active in the community, Agboola serves on local boards focused on healthcare access, youth programming, and economic development. He previously ran in the riding in 2021, finishing second to Dan Vandal.

Thomas Linner (NDP) is a strategic communications professional and the interim executive director of the MFL Occupational Health Centre, a community health clinic in Winnipeg dedicated to workers' health and safety. He previously served as provincial director of the Manitoba Health Coalition, where he was a prominent spokesperson during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has worked for NDP premiers in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Gilles Pelletier (People's Party) ran as the People's Party candidate in the riding.

About the Riding

St. Boniface is the historical cradle of francophone Manitoba. Founded by Metis and French-Canadian fur traders and missionaries in the early 19th century, the neighbourhood is home to the Cathedrale de Saint-Boniface, the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, the Universite de Saint-Boniface — the province's only French-language university — and Festival du Voyageur, which draws tens of thousands of visitors each February. The Provencher Bridge connects St. Boniface to downtown Winnipeg across the Red River, and the neighbourhood has seen a wave of condominium and mixed-use development along its riverfront in recent years.

St. Vital, to the south, is a large residential community that ranges from the older bungalow-lined streets near St. Vital Park to the newer subdivisions of Island Lakes, Royalwood, and Sage Creek. These southern developments have attracted young families and have shifted the riding's demographic balance toward a more suburban, anglophone profile.

The 2025 campaign in St. Boniface—St. Vital focused on the cost of living, housing affordability, healthcare access, and the protection of francophone institutions and minority-language rights. With the departure of Dan Vandal, the contest was closely watched as a test of whether the Liberals could hold a riding they had won in every election since 2015.