Scarborough—Agincourt

Scarborough—Agincourt, a diverse riding in northeastern Toronto anchored by the Agincourt neighbourhood, entered the 2025 election with Progressive Conservative MPP Aris Babikian seeking a third term. First elected in 2018 when he unseated two-term Liberal MPP Soo Wong, Babikian had established himself as a fixture in the riding's large Chinese, South Asian, and Armenian Canadian communities. During the 43rd Parliament, he served as a government backbencher and was active on files related to multiculturalism and seniors' issues. The Liberals fielded a high-profile candidate in retired Toronto Deputy Chief of Police Peter Yuen, seeking to recapture a seat the party had held for decades before 2018.

Six candidates contested the riding.

Candidates

Aris Babikian (Progressive Conservative) — Babikian arrived in Canada in 1978 as a refugee of Armenian descent from Lebanon. He became the first Canadian of Armenian heritage elected to the Ontario Legislature. Before entering politics, he served as a federal citizenship judge from 2009 to 2015 and was involved in Armenian Canadian community organizations, including the Armenian National Federation of Canada. He played a role in advocacy that contributed to Canadian parliamentary recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Peter Yuen (Liberal) — Yuen retired in 2022 after a thirty-five-year career with the Toronto Police Service, where he rose to the rank of Deputy Chief overseeing Community Safety Command. Born in Hong Kong and immigrating to Canada in 1975, he led public safety initiatives and managed frontline policing across twelve districts. He contributed to diversity initiatives on the Toronto Police Services Board and helped implement the force's Race-Based Data Collection Strategy.

Francesca Policarpio (NDP) — Policarpio is a University of Toronto undergraduate student who was born in Toronto and raised in the Philippines. She campaigned on issues including affordable housing and accessible education.

Stephanie Leblanc (Green Party), Johan Yogaretnam (New Blue Party), and Donahue Morgan (Ontario Party) also ran.

Local Issues

Public transit remained a major concern for Scarborough—Agincourt residents during the 2022–2025 term. The permanent closure of the Scarborough RT (Line 3) in the summer of 2023, several months ahead of schedule following a derailment, eliminated a rail connection that many riders in the broader Scarborough area relied upon. Although the closure most directly affected neighbouring ridings, the loss of the line rippled through transit networks across Scarborough, increasing bus congestion and commute times. The Scarborough Subway Extension, which will extend Line 2 roughly eight kilometres to Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road, was under construction but not expected to open until 2029 or 2030, leaving riders facing years of diminished service.

Healthcare access was a persistent challenge. Scarborough had some of the lowest ratios of family physicians per capita in Ontario, and the problem worsened during the term as the province-wide total of residents without a family doctor climbed toward 2.5 million. The expansion of the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health, with new family medicine residency positions allocated to Scarborough Health Network, offered a long-term response, but residents continued to rely heavily on overcrowded emergency departments for routine care.

Housing affordability and intensification shaped local debate. Rising rents and property values put pressure on the riding's many apartment corridor residents, including newcomer families and seniors on fixed incomes. Provincial policies encouraging transit-oriented development near future transit stations generated discussion about balancing new housing supply with neighbourhood character and local infrastructure capacity.