Lethbridge

Lethbridge is a southern Alberta riding centred on the city of Lethbridge, the largest urban centre between Calgary and the US border. With a population exceeding 100,000, Lethbridge serves as the commercial, educational, and healthcare hub for the surrounding agricultural region. The city is divided by the Oldman River, whose deeply carved valley creates one of the largest urban park systems in North America at roughly 16 square kilometres of protected land. The University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge Polytechnic make the city a significant post-secondary centre.

Candidates

Rachael Thomas (Conservative) is the incumbent, first elected in 2015 as the first woman MP to represent the riding. Born in Calgary and raised on a horse farm in Kathryn, Alberta, Thomas graduated with Great Distinction from the University of Lethbridge with a Bachelor of Education and a Bachelor of Arts. Before entering politics, she worked as a youth sociologist and leadership consultant. In Parliament, she has served as shadow minister for Canadian Heritage and held critic roles for Youth and Persons with Disabilities, the Status of Women, and Digital Government.

Chris Spearman (Liberal) served as mayor of Lethbridge for two terms from 2013 to 2021 and was an 18-year trustee of the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division. Since leaving municipal politics, Spearman led a campaign opposing new coal mine development in the Crowsnest Pass over concerns about selenium contamination of the Oldman River watershed.

Nathan Svoboda (NDP) is a paramedic with Recovery Alberta who has lived in the Lethbridge riding for a decade. He has volunteered extensively with local non-profits including Streets Alive and the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen, working with individuals living with addictions.

Amber Murray (Green Party) moved to Lethbridge in 2023 after spending seven years designing and building a subsistence-based urban farm in Cardston County. She holds an undergraduate degree in liberal arts and was motivated to run by concerns over coal mine development in the Crowsnest Pass and water protection.

Clara Piedalue (People's Party) and Marc Slingerland (Christian Heritage Party) also stood as candidates in the riding.

About the Riding

Lethbridge has historically been southern Alberta's service centre, providing healthcare, retail, and professional services to a vast agricultural hinterland. The University of Lethbridge, the only university in Alberta south of Calgary, employs thousands and sustains a student population that gives parts of the city a younger demographic character. Lethbridge Polytechnic—formerly Lethbridge College—complements the university as a trades and applied-sciences institution. Together, the two institutions are major economic anchors.

The city's economy extends beyond education into agriculture, food processing, and light manufacturing. The surrounding region is one of Canada's most productive irrigated-farming areas, and Lethbridge serves as the distribution and processing hub for crops including sugar beets, potatoes, and specialty grains. Wind energy has become increasingly important in the Lethbridge area, with several large wind farms operating in the open prairie south and west of the city.

In 2025, Lethbridge's political conversation was shaped by several overlapping issues. Homelessness and the opioid crisis were visible concerns downtown, testing the city's social services capacity. The proposed development of coal mines in the nearby Crowsnest Pass polarized opinion, with environmentalists warning of selenium contamination of the Oldman River watershed and others emphasizing potential jobs. The US trade dispute created anxiety among agricultural producers and energy workers, while healthcare access—particularly physician recruitment and emergency-room wait times—was a persistent community concern.