Vancouver Quadra

Vancouver Quadra is an affluent, highly educated federal riding on Vancouver's west side, stretching from Burrard Inlet in the north to 75th Avenue in the south and from Arbutus Street eastward to the University of British Columbia campus and the Pacific Ocean. The riding encompasses some of Canada's wealthiest residential neighbourhoods alongside the country's largest university and the Musqueam First Nation reserve. It has the highest proportion of residents with a university degree of any federal riding in Canada.

Candidates

Wade Grant (Liberal) is of Musqueam and Chinese descent. He studied political science at the University of British Columbia and served as a Musqueam Indian Band councillor from 2004 to 2014 and as the band's Intergovernmental Affairs Officer. After graduating from UBC, he served in the Vancouver Police Department and as a special advisor to former BC Premier Christy Clark. He chaired the First Nations Health Council from 2021 to 2025, where he helped launch a 10-year strategy on Indigenous health and social determinants. His mother, Wendy Grant-John, and his grandfather, Willard Sparrow, both served as chiefs of the Musqueam Indian Band.

Ken Charko (Conservative) is the proprietor of the Dunbar Theatre, an independent cinema that has been a neighbourhood landmark for over 80 years. He is president of the Hillcrest Community Centre and has served on the board of the Motion Picture Theatre Association of BC for over 20 years. Charko previously ran for Vancouver City Council in 2022 with the Non-Partisan Association.

Alim Fakirani (NDP) is a first-time candidate who brings a decade of experience teaching for the Ismaili Tariqah and Religious Education Board Canada. He was a PhD student at UBC and has done international development work across East Africa focused on education and teacher training.

Tom Digby (Green Party) is a Vancouver Park Board Commissioner and intellectual property lawyer with a master's degree in biochemistry. He was elected to the Park Board in 2022 and previously served on the Vancouver City Planning Commission from 2001 to 2004.

John Odan Ede (People's Party) also stood as a candidate in the riding.

About the Riding

Vancouver Quadra is defined by the University of British Columbia, which sits on the western tip of the Point Grey peninsula and employs thousands of faculty and staff while educating a student body of over 55,000. The University Endowment Lands and Pacific Spirit Regional Park—763 hectares of temperate rainforest—separate the campus from the city's residential neighbourhoods. Dunbar-Southlands, West Point Grey, and Kerrisdale are established residential areas of heritage homes and mature gardens, while Kitsilano, at the riding's northern edge along English Bay, combines beach culture with dense apartment living.

The riding contains the Musqueam First Nation reserve, giving Indigenous governance and land rights a tangible local dimension found in few other urban ridings. The Musqueam people's traditional territory encompasses much of the city of Vancouver, and the relationship between the First Nation, UBC, and the surrounding municipalities is a significant thread in the riding's civic life.

In 2025, housing affordability remained a central concern even in this comparatively wealthy riding, as property values ranked among the highest in the country and younger residents—including students and university employees—struggled to find affordable rental housing. The Millennium Line UBC extension, a proposed rapid transit connection from the Broadway Subway to the university campus, was a major local infrastructure issue. Climate policy resonated in a riding with strong environmental awareness, and healthcare access—particularly family physician shortages—remained a concern despite the proximity of Vancouver General Hospital and UBC Hospital.