Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill

Created in 2015, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill is a suburban riding in York Region north of Toronto, encompassing the Town of Aurora and parts of the City of Richmond Hill. The riding's communities sit along the southern edge of the Oak Ridges Moraine, a major environmental feature that has shaped development patterns in the area. Progressive Conservative incumbent Michael Parsa, first elected in 2018, was seeking a second term. The riding had been competitive between Conservatives and Liberals historically, but Parsa had won comfortably in 2018 during the province-wide PC wave.

Candidates

Michael Parsa (Progressive Conservative) — First elected in 2018, Parsa had lived in the community since 2002 and previously ran a family business in the Greater Toronto Area. He served as president of the local Optimist Club from 2005 to 2009 and had also been the Conservative Party of Canada candidate in the 2015 federal election in nearby Richmond Hill.

Marjan Kasirlou (Liberal) — A Registered Nurse with over two decades of experience in hospitals, education, and the pharmaceutical industry, Kasirlou had worked as a home dialysis coordinator at Humber River Hospital. She campaigned on health care, affordability, and community investment.

Reza Pourzad (NDP), Kevin Zheng (Green Party), Catherine Dellerba (Ontario Party), Rosaria Wiseman (New Blue Party), and Igor Strelkov (Ontario Moderate Party) also ran.

Local Issues

Housing affordability was a defining issue in Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, as it was across much of the Greater Toronto Area. By mid-2022, the median home price in Richmond Hill had risen to approximately $1.5 million, putting homeownership increasingly out of reach for young families and newcomers. The provincial government's housing targets called for significant new construction across York Region, but debates arose over how to balance densification with the protection of the Oak Ridges Moraine and surrounding green spaces.

Health care was a pressing concern for the riding's growing population. Residents noted the need for more family physicians, expanded hospital capacity, and mental health services. Kasirlou, herself a nurse, advocated for faster recognition of foreign nursing credentials to help address the health care worker shortage. The pandemic had underscored how thinly stretched the health care system was across the northern GTA suburbs.

Transportation infrastructure was another key issue, with many residents commuting south to Toronto for work. GO Transit connections through the Barrie line served parts of the riding, but residents called for more frequent service, better connections to employment hubs, and investment in local transit to reduce car dependency. Growth management, balancing new development with the character of established neighbourhoods and the environmental sensitivity of the Moraine, remained a central tension in the community.