Richmond Centre—Marpole

Richmond Centre—Marpole is a newly configured federal riding created through the 2022 redistribution, combining the commercial core of the City of Richmond with the Marpole neighbourhood at the southern tip of Vancouver. The riding crosses the Fraser River's North Arm, linking the condo towers and commercial centres of Richmond's city centre with the low-rise residential streets and growing density of Marpole. Chinese Canadians make up nearly 60 percent of the riding's population of approximately 116,000, making it one of the most ethnically concentrated constituencies in the country.

Candidates

Chak Au (Conservative) is a Richmond city councillor first elected to council in 2011, and a former four-term Richmond school trustee. Born in Hong Kong, Au immigrated to Canada in 1988 after serving as an assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is a family therapist by profession. Au previously ran for the BC NDP in the 2017 provincial election before aligning with the federal Conservatives.

Wilson Miao (Liberal) served as the Member of Parliament for Richmond Centre from 2021 to 2025 after defeating long-time Conservative incumbent Alice Wong. Born in 1987, Miao immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong as a child and grew up in Richmond. He studied business administration at Simon Fraser University and worked as a realtor and financial dealing representative before entering politics. In Parliament, he served on the Standing Committees on International Trade and Veterans Affairs and shepherded Private Member's Bill C-244, amending the Copyright Act, to royal assent in 2024.

Martin Li (NDP) ran as the New Democratic Party candidate in the riding.

Michael Sisler (Green Party) represented the Green Party, and David Wang (People's Party) ran for the People's Party of Canada.

About the Riding

Richmond Centre—Marpole straddles two distinct but increasingly connected urban landscapes. Richmond's city centre, clustered around the Canada Line SkyTrain stations at Aberdeen, Lansdowne, and Richmond-Brighouse, has transformed over the past two decades from a suburban commercial strip into a dense urban core of residential towers, shopping centres, and mixed-use developments. The area is a hub for the Chinese Canadian community, with a concentration of Chinese-language media, restaurants, cultural institutions, and professional services that give it a distinctive character.

Marpole, on the Vancouver side of the Fraser River, is a historically working-class neighbourhood that has undergone significant densification, particularly along the Cambie Street corridor following the arrival of the Canada Line in 2009. New condominium and rental developments have altered the neighbourhood's character while raising concerns about affordability and the displacement of long-time residents and small businesses.

In 2025, housing affordability was the dominant local concern, as both Richmond's city centre and Marpole experienced among the highest housing costs in Metro Vancouver. Immigration settlement services and multilingual access to government programs were important issues given the riding's large newcomer population. The US trade dispute raised concerns for residents employed in trade-dependent sectors, while transit connectivity across the Fraser River and the capacity of the Canada Line during peak hours were ongoing infrastructure concerns.