Sherwood Park

Strathcona County's largest community, Sherwood Park sits on Edmonton's eastern flank and has grown into a suburb of roughly 72,000 people whose daily rhythms are shaped by the petrochemical corridor along Highway 21. Refinery Row and the broader Industrial Heartland remain the economic engine of the area, but the community's profile has diversified in recent years with an expanding retail and service sector along Baseline Road and Wye Road. Jordan Walker won the seat for the UCP in 2019 by defeating NDP incumbent Annie McKitrick, and the riding was considered one of the closest battlegrounds of the 2023 campaign. The four years between elections were defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, the oil price collapse of 2020, Jason Kenney's leadership difficulties, and Danielle Smith's ascension to the UCP leadership in October 2022.

Candidates

Jordan Walker (United Conservative)* — First elected in 2019, Walker served as a UCP backbencher on Treasury Board and the Standing Committee on Alberta's Economic Future. During his term he championed Bill 220, which extended bereavement leave to parents who experienced pregnancy loss. He pointed to funding he secured for an IV therapy clinic at the Strathcona Community Hospital, planning money for a hospital expansion, and a replacement for Sherwood Heights Junior High as accomplishments from his time in office. Originally from Montague, Prince Edward Island, Walker holds a master's degree and worked as an education assessor for the Government of Alberta before entering politics.

Kyle Kasawski (NDP) — A University of Alberta geography and urban planning graduate who built a career in the energy sector before founding a solar power company that grew into Canada's second-largest solar firm. Kasawski served as president of Solar People Incorporated and was named to Edify's Top 40 under 40 in 2011 for his work in renewable energy. He also taught at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology's Alternative Energy Technology program and at McGill University, and worked as a client development director with Alberta Municipalities. He won a contested four-way NDP nomination in September 2022.

Sue Timanson (Alberta Party) — A longtime Sherwood Park resident, Timanson is a business owner, marketing strategist, and former investment advisor who also ran for the Alberta Party in the riding in 2019, earning about 13 per cent of the vote. She has served on the board of the Sherwood Park and District Chamber of Commerce and has been active in community organizations.

Jacob Stacey (Liberal) — Born and raised in Strathcona County, Stacey earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and worked as a store manager. He campaigned on affordability and expanding high-speed internet access across Alberta.

Local Issues

Healthcare dominated the conversation in Sherwood Park heading into 2023. The Strathcona Community Hospital continued to lack full inpatient and surgical capacity despite serving one of Alberta's fastest-growing suburban populations. Walker pointed to planning funds secured in the 2023 provincial budget for a hospital expansion, while Kasawski and the NDP argued that years of underfunding had left Sherwood Park residents dependent on overloaded Edmonton hospitals for surgeries, maternity care, and acute treatment. The difficulty of finding a family doctor in the community added urgency to the health file, with both sides proposing different models to recruit and retain primary care physicians.

Affordability was the other issue voters raised most frequently. Rising utility costs, grocery prices, and insurance premiums squeezed household budgets across the riding. The UCP highlighted its gas tax pause and electricity rebates, while the NDP proposed a cap on utility bills and a freeze on personal income tax bracket adjustments. For residents whose livelihoods were linked to the energy sector, the conversation also encompassed energy policy and the transition debate, with Kasawski's background in solar energy framing a discussion about how traditional and renewable energy could coexist in a petrochemical-intensive community.

School infrastructure remained a priority. The replacement of Sherwood Heights Junior High had been a long-running ask from parents and school administrators, and both major candidates committed to seeing the project through. Rapid residential growth in newer subdivisions also raised concerns about whether classroom space would keep pace with the influx of young families settling in the eastern reaches of the county.