Oakville

Oakville is a prosperous lakeside community in Halton Region, known for its heritage downtown, extensive waterfront parkland, and a well-educated, high-income population. Stephen Crawford of the Progressive Conservatives had represented the riding since 2018, serving as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance during the previous term. Crawford sought a third mandate against a field that included the same Liberal opponent he faced in 2022, in a riding where rising concerns about provincial development policy had become a defining local issue.

The contest unfolded against the backdrop of the province’s Transit Oriented Communities program, which proposed sweeping high-density development around the Oakville GO station. The plan drew fierce community opposition and became a focal point of the campaign, framing the broader debate about the relationship between provincial growth mandates and local planning authority.

Candidates

Stephen Crawford (Progressive Conservative) — A graduate of Western University in political science who also studied business at the University of Toronto, Crawford built a career in financial services, helping grow Acuity Funds Ltd. into one of Canada’s fastest-growing asset management firms. He holds a Canadian Investment Manager designation and was first elected in 2018. He served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance.

Alison Gohel (Liberal) — A senior advisor at RBC with two Master of Laws degrees, including one from Osgoode Hall Law School, Gohel brought experience in tax advisory work at major Canadian financial institutions. She first won the Liberal nomination in late 2020 and ran again in 2025, campaigning on education, health care, and support for local businesses.

Diane Downey (NDP) — A game developer and honours graduate of Sheridan College who also holds a BA in English from St. Thomas University, Downey moved to Oakville in 2016 and became active with the NDP in 2019. She served on several party equity committees focused on disability justice and Indigenous rights.

Bruno Sousa (Green Party) — Sousa returned as the Green Party candidate in Oakville.

Shereen Di Vittorio ran for the New Blue Party and Sandor Kornay for the Ontario Moderate Party.

Local Issues

The province’s Transit Oriented Communities proposal for Midtown Oakville dominated local debate during the 2022–2025 term. Infrastructure Ontario, working on behalf of the province, engaged with the Town of Oakville beginning in spring 2024 on a plan to build eleven towers ranging from 46 to 59 storeys near the Oakville GO station, creating approximately 6,900 residential units. Town council voted unanimously to oppose the project, and Oakville planning staff produced an 88-page report concluding the proposal represented excessive density with insufficient community benefits. Residents packed open houses to protest what community groups described as a closed-door process that would override local planning decisions and overwhelm existing infrastructure, schools, and roads.

Health care capacity remained a concern throughout the term. Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, part of the Halton Healthcare system, continued to face staffing pressures and surgical backlogs that had worsened during the pandemic. Family physician shortages affected residents across the riding, compounded by steady population growth from new housing developments in north Oakville.

Transportation congestion on the QEW and through Oakville’s arterial roads remained a daily frustration for commuters. The town undertook a comprehensive update to its Transportation Master Plan through community consultations in late 2023 and early 2024, seeking to address mobility challenges as the community continued to grow. GO Transit service provided a rail link to Toronto, but local transit connections and the pace of infrastructure investment lagged behind demand.