Milton

Milton is one of the fastest-growing communities in Ontario, located in Halton Region west of Toronto. The riding underwent significant political upheaval during the 2022–2025 term. Progressive Conservative Parm Gill, who had won re-election in 2022 and served as Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, resigned his seat in February 2024 to pursue federal politics. A by-election held on May 2, 2024, was won by PC candidate Zee Hamid, a former Milton town councillor. During his brief tenure as MPP, Hamid served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance. He entered the February 2025 general election as the incumbent seeking a full term.

Candidates

Zee Hamid (Progressive Conservative) — Hamid is a University of Waterloo graduate with a background in finance and technology. He served as a Milton town councillor from 2010 to 2022 and sat on the boards of Halton Healthcare, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Halton, and Conservation Halton before winning the 2024 by-election.

Kristina Tesser Derksen (Liberal) — Tesser Derksen served two terms as a Milton town councillor. She holds a law degree from the University of Toronto and an undergraduate degree in history and political science. She had also run as the Liberal candidate in the 2024 by-election.

Katherine-Anne Cirlincione (NDP) — Cirlincione works as a product specialist and has been active in the Milton-area community. She had also been the NDP candidate in Milton in the 2022 provincial election, campaigning on the housing crisis and rising cost of living.

The remaining candidates included Susan Doyle for the Green Party, John Spina for the New Blue Party, and Mohsin Rizvi for Consensus Ontario.

Local Issues

Transit remained among the most pressing concerns in Milton. Commuters had long sought two-way, all-day GO Train service on the Milton line, which during this term operated peak-direction rush-hour service only. In February 2024, the provincial government announced plans to build a fully separated passenger rail line along the corridor to enable all-day service, but the estimated cost of over six billion dollars raised questions about funding and timelines. An additional GO trip in each direction was added in April 2024 as an interim measure.

Highway 413 continued to divide opinion. The proposed 60-kilometre highway connecting Milton to Vaughan through parts of Halton and Peel would cut through farmland and sections of the Greenbelt. In March 2024, the federal government dropped its environmental assessment of the project, and in October 2024, the Ontario government tabled legislation exempting Highway 413 from the provincial Environmental Assessment Act. Supporters said the highway would ease congestion for Milton’s growing population, while critics argued it would cause significant environmental harm.

The Milton Education Village reached an important milestone in September 2024 when Wilfrid Laurier University welcomed its first class of students to an interim campus in Milton, offering computer science and psychology programs. The long-planned permanent campus, developed in partnership with the Town of Milton, was seen as critical to Milton’s evolution from a commuter town into a more self-sustaining community with local post-secondary education and employment.