Vaughan—Woodbridge

Vaughan—Woodbridge, situated in the City of Vaughan within York Region, entered the 2025 provincial election as a firmly held Progressive Conservative seat. Michael Tibollo had won the riding in both 2018 and 2022, defeating Liberal leader Steven Del Duca in the latter contest—a result that contributed to Del Duca's resignation as party leader. During the 2022–2025 term, Tibollo continued to serve as Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, a portfolio he had held since its creation, championing investments in youth mental health supports and addiction treatment capacity across the province. His work in this role included visiting community mental health organizations and advocating for expanded access to services.

The riding remained a bellwether for voter sentiment in the suburban 905 belt, where the Progressive Conservatives had built a commanding electoral coalition. With the Ontario Liberal Party under new leader Bonnie Crombie seeking to reclaim ground in the GTA suburbs, Vaughan—Woodbridge was once again a test of whether the Liberals could mount a credible challenge in a riding they once considered home turf.

Candidates

Michael Tibollo (Progressive Conservative) — A lawyer with more than three decades of experience, Tibollo founded the firm Tibollo and Associates in Woodbridge. He holds a law degree from the University of Windsor and recently completed a Doctorate of Psychology at the University of Southern California. First elected in 2018, he served in several cabinet roles before being appointed Ontario's first Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. Tibollo is also the founder of the Festival of Light, an annual multicultural celebration in Vaughan, and was instrumental in establishing Italian Heritage Month in Ontario.

Hamza Ansari (Liberal) — A specialist in international development and humanitarian work, Ansari has collaborated with the United Nations in crisis zones and with Global Affairs Canada on programming in South Asia, Ukraine, and the Middle East. He serves as Head of Global Partnerships at HelpAge Canada and is a guest lecturer at the University of Toronto.

Elif Genc (NDP) — A PhD student in Anthropology at the University of Toronto, Genc is co-chair of the Canadian Kurdish Community Centre and has been active in community organizing within the Greater Toronto Area's Kurdish diaspora.

Other candidates in the riding included Philip Piluris (Green Party), Pasquale Chiarizia (New Blue Party), and Mario Greco (People's Political Party).

Local Issues

The transformation of the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre continued to dominate local planning discussions during the 2022–2025 term. By mid-2024, the VMC was home to nearly 13,000 residents, with thousands of additional units under construction and more than 12,000 approved for future development. The rapid densification around the Line 1 subway terminus raised concerns about traffic congestion, the pace of infrastructure delivery, and the adequacy of community services to support the growing population. Proposals for towers exceeding 70 storeys underscored the intensity of development pressures in the area.

The provincial government's 2023 Greenbelt controversy also resonated in Vaughan. Lands within the municipality were among those whose owners had sought removal from the Greenbelt, and the subsequent reversal—following the Auditor General's report and high-profile cabinet resignations—kept questions about development governance in the public eye. Highway 413, which the City of Vaughan has formally opposed, remained a divisive issue, with environmental groups warning about the loss of farmland and wetlands while the provincial government argued the highway was needed to address congestion in the northwest GTA.

Healthcare capacity also remained a concern. The Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital, which opened in 2021 as the first new hospital in Ontario in over 30 years, was serving a rapidly expanding population, and residents continued to advocate for expanded services at the facility to keep pace with the community's growth.