Hamilton Centre

Hamilton Centre was the seat of NDP leader Andrea Horwath, who had represented the area since winning a 2004 by-election in the former riding of Hamilton East, moving to the new Hamilton Centre riding after redistricting in 2007. The downtown Hamilton riding was considered one of the safest NDP seats in the province. Horwath, who had led the Ontario NDP since 2009, was contesting her fourth general election as party leader and her fifth campaign in the riding. While her personal seat was never in serious doubt, the election carried high stakes for Horwath's political future — the NDP's performance province-wide would determine whether she could remain as leader. The riding itself encompasses Hamilton's urban core, including the downtown, the International Village neighbourhood, and parts of the north end along Burlington Bay.

Candidates

Andrea Horwath (NDP) — Born and raised in Hamilton, Horwath earned a Bachelor of Arts from McMaster University. Before entering politics, she worked in literacy training, legal-aid advocacy, and community organization. She was first elected to Hamilton City Council in 1997, serving three terms before winning the Hamilton East provincial seat in a by-election in 2004 and representing the new Hamilton Centre riding from 2007. She became leader of the Ontario NDP in 2009 and led the party to Official Opposition status in 2018 — the NDP's best result in over two decades.

Sarah Bokhari (Progressive Conservative) — A political scientist, academic, and journalist, Bokhari holds three master's degrees in political science, international relations, and strategic studies. She had previously run as the federal Conservative candidate in London North Centre in the 2019 election.

Ekaterini Dimakis (Liberal) — Dimakis moved to Hamilton from Greece in 2016 and was a law student at the time of the election. She had worked on local Liberal campaigns and focused her platform on social justice, mental health, and education.

Minor candidates included Sandy Crawley (Green Party), John Chroust (New Blue Party), Brad Peace (Ontario Party), Nigel Cheriyan (Communist), and Nathalie Xian Yi Yan (Independent).

Local Issues

Homelessness and encampments had become the most visible crisis in Hamilton Centre during the 2018–2022 term. Beginning in the summer of 2020, tent encampments appeared in city parks and along thoroughfares across the downtown. A court injunction initially prevented the city from clearing a Ferguson Avenue encampment, and the issue dominated municipal politics. Hamilton's actively homeless population exceeded 1,500 people by late 2021, and the city's waitlist for affordable housing surpassed 6,000 families. Hamilton was ranked among the least affordable housing markets in North America.

The opioid crisis intensified dramatically over the same period. Opioid-related deaths in Hamilton rose from 26 in 2005 to 170 in 2021, and paramedics responded to over 800 suspected overdoses in 2022. The intersection of addiction, mental illness, and homelessness put enormous strain on emergency services and community organizations in the riding. The provincial government's approach to supervised consumption sites and harm reduction became a flashpoint in the local campaign.

The Hamilton Light Rail Transit project also loomed over the election. The Ford government had abruptly cancelled the LRT in December 2019, only to reverse course and reinstate it in 2021 with a commitment of combined federal-provincial funding. For residents of Hamilton Centre, the LRT represented both a promise of economic revitalization along King Street and a source of ongoing uncertainty about the provincial government's commitment to the city's transit infrastructure.