Kelowna

Kelowna is a newly drawn riding for the 2025 election, encompassing much of the city of Kelowna north of Mission Creek, along with the Highway 33 corridor extending east through to Big White ski resort, Beaverdell, and the Christian Valley. Under the 2022 redistribution, the former Kelowna—Lake Country riding was divided, with Lake Country moving to the new Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee riding and the southern portion of Kelowna assigned to the new Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna riding. The result is a riding centred on Kelowna’s urban core and its eastern hinterland. Kelowna is the largest city in the Okanagan, with a metropolitan population exceeding 220,000.

Candidates

Stephen Fuhr (Liberal) is a decorated former Royal Canadian Air Force pilot who served 20 years in the military, retiring with the rank of Major. During his career, he served as a CF-18 Hornet fighter pilot, flight instructor, and fleet manager. Born in Edmonton and raised in Kamloops, Fuhr earned a diploma in aviation technology from Trinity Western University. He previously held the Kelowna—Lake Country seat from 2015 to 2019, during which time he chaired the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence.

Tracy Gray (Conservative) is the incumbent, first elected in 2019 in the former Kelowna—Lake Country riding and re-elected in 2021. Born in Edmonton and raised in Lethbridge, Gray moved to Kelowna in 1989 and spent 27 years in the BC wine and beer industry, including founding and operating a top-ranked VQA wine store for 13 years. She was named RBC Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006 and served as a Kelowna city councillor from 2014 to 2018, during which time she chaired the Okanagan Basin Water Board.

Trevor McAleese (NDP) is a lifelong Okanagan resident who moved from Vancouver to Westbank as a child. He graduated from Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan with a degree in business administration and has built a career as an independent video game developer, working with Canadian and international studios. He is also a musician and has worked in restaurant kitchens, packing houses, and as an educator at Okanagan College.

Catriona Wright (Green Party) stood as the Green Party candidate in the riding.

About the Riding

Kelowna sits on the eastern shore of Okanagan Lake in one of Canada’s warmest and driest climates, a setting that has made it a magnet for retirees, tourists, and a growing population of young professionals. The city’s economy is anchored by tourism, viticulture, agriculture, construction, health care, and a burgeoning technology sector. The Okanagan’s wine industry, centred on dozens of wineries along the lake, generates hundreds of millions of dollars annually and draws visitors from across the country.

UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College provide a post-secondary base that has fueled growth in technology, health sciences, and creative industries. Kelowna General Hospital is the regional referral centre for the Southern Interior, serving a catchment area of more than 300,000 people.

The 2025 election was one of the most closely watched contests in the Okanagan. Kelowna had been reliably Conservative for most of the 21st century, making the riding a bellwether for the broader political shift occurring across parts of British Columbia. Housing affordability was a top concern, with Kelowna’s median home prices among the highest outside the Lower Mainland and Greater Victoria. Wildfire risk loomed over the riding following the devastating 2023 fire season that scorched communities across the Okanagan. Water management—including drought conditions, lake levels, and agricultural irrigation—was a perennial issue in a region where growth and climate change have intensified competition for limited water resources. Health-care capacity, particularly emergency-room overcrowding and physician recruitment, rounded out the issues that dominated the campaign.