Etobicoke North

Etobicoke North is the home riding of Premier Doug Ford, located in Toronto’s northwest. The riding includes the communities of Rexdale, Thistletown, and Smithfield, and is one of the most ethnically diverse areas in the Greater Toronto Area. According to census data, over 54% of residents are first-generation Canadians, with significant communities of South Asian, Caribbean, and Somali origin. Ford first won the seat in 2018 after leading the Progressive Conservatives to a majority government, and he entered the 2022 campaign seeking a second mandate as both the local MPP and Premier of Ontario.

Candidates

Doug Ford (Progressive Conservative) — Ford is a lifelong Etobicoke resident who co-owns Deco Labels and Tags, a printing business founded by his father, Doug Ford Sr., who served as an MPP from 1995 to 1999. Ford served as a Toronto city councillor for Ward 2 from 2010 to 2014 and ran in the 2014 Toronto mayoral election, finishing second to John Tory. He won the PC Party leadership in 2018 and was sworn in as premier on June 29, 2018.

Julie Lutete (Liberal) — Lutete is a Francophone community leader who immigrated to Canada from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She serves as president of the Coalition of Black Francophones and executive director of Auberge Francophonie. She is credited with helping to establish the first French-language health services centre in Ontario located in Etobicoke.

Aisha Jahangir (NDP) — Jahangir is a mental health nurse with over 20 years of experience and an advocate for tenants’ rights and affordable housing. The daughter of Pakistani immigrants, she previously ran twice as the federal NDP candidate in Guelph in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

Andy D’Andrea (Ontario Party), Gabriel Blanc (Green Party), Victor Ehikwe (New Blue Party), and Carol Royer (People’s Political Party) also contested the riding.

Local Issues

Community services and youth programming were persistent concerns in Etobicoke North. The riding includes several lower-income neighbourhoods where residents identified a lack of accessible recreational facilities, health clinics, and social services. Community organizations such as the Central Etobicoke Community Hub Initiative advocated for new multi-service centres that would provide health, cultural, and recreational programming in an area long described as underserved.

Affordable housing and tenant protections were prominent issues in a riding where many residents live in rental apartments and social housing. Parts of the riding have experienced declining socio-economic indicators, with research noting that as older suburban residents moved away, property values dropped, attracting recent immigrants who then faced limited access to services that could support economic mobility.

Public safety and gun violence in northwest Etobicoke were ongoing concerns that prompted calls for greater investment in youth employment programs and community outreach. The pandemic also disproportionately affected the riding’s residents, many of whom worked in essential frontline industries and lived in multi-generational households, making healthcare access and paid sick leave particularly salient topics during the campaign.