Markham—Unionville

Markham—Unionville covers the northern portions of the City of Markham, including the Unionville Heritage Conservation District with its well-preserved 19th-century Main Street and newer suburban development to the north and east. The riding has one of the largest Chinese-Canadian populations of any Ontario electoral district. Billy Pang, first elected in 2018 when he succeeded long-time Liberal MPP Michael Chan, had won re-election handily in 2022. During the 43rd Parliament, Pang served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education and previously held similar roles with the ministers of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries and Citizenship and Multiculturalism.

Candidates

Billy Pang (Progressive Conservative) — Pang is a first-generation Canadian who immigrated from Hong Kong in 2000. Before entering politics, he founded Y5Zone in Hong Kong, which grew into one of the largest wholesale Wi-Fi suppliers in the territory. He served as a York Region District School Board trustee from 2014 to 2018.

Jagbir Dosanjh (Liberal) — Dosanjh is a corporate lawyer and business leader who has served as lead counsel at a renewable energy development fund. He also runs a small farm supplying organic produce to local restaurants.

Sameer Qureshi (NDP) — Qureshi is a software engineering student and longtime NDP member who campaigned on housing affordability, workers’ rights, and stronger public services.

The remaining candidates included Chris Madsen for the Green Party and Nick Boudreau for the New Blue Party.

Local Issues

The tension between heritage conservation and suburban intensification remained a defining concern for Markham—Unionville residents during the 2022–2025 provincial term. The Unionville Heritage Conservation District continued to draw advocacy for careful development, even as the province advanced policies aimed at increasing housing supply through higher-density zoning near transit corridors. The ongoing planning for the Yonge North Subway Extension, which progressed through procurement during this period, raised expectations about increased development pressure in parts of York Region.

The Greenbelt controversy that erupted in 2023 reverberated across York Region. The Auditor General’s findings that certain developers had been favoured in the government’s Greenbelt land swap, followed by the Ford government’s reversal of those changes, became a political liability for PC candidates across the suburban GTA. The RCMP’s announcement in October 2023 of a criminal investigation into the land removals added further scrutiny.

Education funding and school capacity were recurring topics given the riding’s family-oriented demographics. York Region school boards continued to grapple with enrolment pressures as new subdivisions were built faster than school construction could keep pace, and parents advocated for additional provincial capital funding to address overcrowding.