Don Valley North

Don Valley North is located in the northeastern part of Toronto’s former North York district and includes the neighbourhoods of Bayview Village, Henry Farm, Don Valley Village, Hillcrest Village, and Pleasant View. It is one of the most ethnically diverse ridings in Ontario, with residents of Chinese descent comprising roughly thirty percent of the population and significant communities of Persian, Korean, and South Asian heritage. The riding was won by Progressive Conservative Vincent Ke in 2018, when he defeated longtime Toronto city councillor Shelley Carroll of the Liberals. Ke became the first MPP born in mainland China to serve in the Ontario legislature.

Candidates

Vincent Ke (Progressive Conservative) — Ke was born in Quanzhou, Fujian, China, and immigrated to Canada in 1998. He holds an engineering degree from Fuzhou University and a master’s degree from Ruhr University in Germany. Before entering politics, he worked as an electronic engineer at Conec, a German electronics firm with operations in Brampton, from 1999 to 2018. He was first elected in 2018.

Jonathan Tsao (Liberal) — Tsao is a community builder and former Toronto city councillor who spent his career in public service, including work at a national housing organization and as a senior advisor in the Ontario government.

Ebrahim Astaraki (NDP) — Astaraki is a graduate of York University who works in education and career planning.

Ostap Soroka (Green Party) and Jay Sobel (New Blue Party) also ran.

Local Issues

Development and density along the Sheppard subway corridor was a major issue during the 2018 to 2022 term. The City of Toronto initiated a review of the Sheppard East Subway Corridor Secondary Plan in 2018, prompting debate about how much high-rise development the area could absorb. The planned redevelopment of Bayview Village Shopping Centre, approved by the provincial tribunal in 2020, called for towers of up to thirty storeys and over a thousand new residential units. Residents were divided between those welcoming new housing and those concerned about traffic, shadows, and the overcrowding of the Yonge subway line.

Transit overcrowding on the Yonge line was a persistent complaint. The planned Yonge North Subway Extension, which would extend service into York Region, raised concerns that adding more riders from the north without first addressing capacity constraints would worsen conditions for existing Don Valley North commuters. Residents called for faster progress on transit expansion and relief measures.

During the campaign period, questions arose regarding allegations that corporations linked to Ke and his staff had been improperly registered. The Ontario Liberal Party called on the Ontario Provincial Police to investigate the matter. These allegations added an unusual dimension to a race that was otherwise focused on local development, transit, and services for the riding’s multicultural communities.