Scarborough Centre

Scarborough Centre, situated around the commercial hub of Scarborough Town Centre in central Scarborough, went to the polls with Progressive Conservative MPP David Smith defending the seat he had won in the 2022 election. Smith, a former Toronto District School Board trustee who had served for twelve years, succeeded Christina Mitas, who did not seek re-election in 2022. During the 43rd Parliament, he served as a government backbencher representing one of the most ethnically diverse ridings in the province, with large South Asian, Caribbean, East African, and Filipino communities in neighbourhoods such as Woburn and Bendale.

Six candidates contested the seat, with the primary race between the PC incumbent and the returning Liberal candidate.

Candidates

David Smith (Progressive Conservative) — Smith served as a Toronto District School Board trustee for Ward 17 in Scarborough for twelve years before winning the provincial seat in 2022. As trustee, he championed the construction of the new David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute and had a background in financial services and community development in Scarborough.

Mazhar Shafiq (Liberal) — Shafiq, also the Liberal candidate in 2022, immigrated to Canada from Pakistan twenty years ago, where he had worked as a highway engineer after graduating from the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore. In Canada, he earned a post-graduate certificate from Sheridan College and took on government advisory roles focused on ensuring underrepresented voices were heard by decision-makers.

Sonali Chakraborti (NDP) — Chakraborti is a municipal policy professional with fifteen years of experience at Toronto City Hall, where she helped shape the Toronto Newcomer Strategy, expanding access to settlement services and job training. She holds a Bachelor of Education and previously taught high school for five years. She served as past vice-chair of the YWCA Toronto Board of Directors.

Dean Boulding (Green Party), Gus Prokos (New Blue Party), and Haseeb Qureshi (Consensus Ontario) also ran.

Local Issues

The closure of the Scarborough RT in the summer of 2023 had a direct impact on Scarborough Centre residents. Line 3, which had connected Kennedy Station to Scarborough Town Centre and McCowan Station, shut down permanently after a derailment accelerated its already-planned closure. An on-street bus replacement plan, with dedicated lanes and signal priority along Midland Avenue and Kennedy Road, went into effect in November 2023. However, commuters reported longer travel times compared to the old rail service. A dedicated busway along the former rail corridor was under construction during the term, but the Scarborough Subway Extension that would eventually replace the line was not expected to open for several more years.

Poverty and social services were significant concerns in the riding. Scarborough Centre includes several neighbourhoods with high concentrations of low-income households living in aging apartment towers built in the 1960s and 1970s. Many residents are newcomers and essential workers who were disproportionately affected by rising costs of living. The cost of rent in the area increased substantially during the term, pushing more families into financial precarity.

The healthcare gap across Scarborough remained a pressing issue. With one of the lowest ratios of family physicians per capita in Ontario, many residents lacked a primary care provider, a problem that grew more acute as the province-wide family doctor shortage worsened during the 2022–2025 term. The Scarborough Health Network's emergency departments continued to operate well above intended capacity, and the announcement of new medical residency spots at the Scarborough Academy of Medicine offered only a long-term solution to an immediate problem.