Ready to cast your ballot in a new riding?
On Monday, April 28, voters across Canada will go to the polls to pick a new federal government.
But in Oakville, this election will be truly historic, as voters elect MPs in two completely new ridings.
Candidates will be running in either Oakville West or Oakville East, with the town divided roughly in half along the Sixteen Mile Creek.
The ridings will replace the Oakville and Oakville North-Burlington federal ridings that have been in place since 2015.
The reshaping of the town’s electoral map is the result of population growth. The new east-west ridings will, for the first time ever, give Oakville two full federal representatives in the House of Commons.
Read more here: Will you be Oakville East or Oakville West?
The new ridings will also shift the traditional north-south political axis that has long defined Oakville ridings and municipal wards.
As a result, both new ridings will include sections of long-established south Oakville, as well as newer, more diverse sections of the town.
That improved symmetry was identified as a strength of the new voting blocks by the Federal Electoral Boundary Commission, which recommended the change.
It noted that the new ridings provide "a better blending of differential north-south population growth" and "are more socioeconomically balanced."
With the creek as the dividing line, residents living west of the Sixteen Mile Creek will vote in the Oakville West riding. Residents living east of the creek will vote in Oakville East.
Who is running where?
Oakville East
Incumbent Liberal MP Anita Anand, who has represented the Oakville riding since 2019, will seek election in Oakville East.
The former law professor was vaulted into the national spotlight during her rookie political term, when the pandemic struck. As Canada’s Minister of Public Services and Procurement, her search for masks, medical supplies and vaccines landed her on the nightly news.
Anand subsequently served as Minister of National Defence, President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Public Services and Procurement in Trudeau’s government.
In January, she announced that she would not seek re-election but late last month she changed her mind, after throwing her support behind newly elected Liberal leader and prime minister Mark Carney.
Conservative candidate Ron Chhinzer is a former Toronto police investigator and Mississauga gym owner.
During his almost 20 years in policing, Chhinzer focused on gang prevention and community relations. In 2023 he joined a Canadian financial technology company where he now serves as vice-president of external affairs.
His volunteer work with the Oakville Soccer Club and other organizations earned him the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee community service award.
Chinnzer ran unsuccessfully for the Conservatives in a 2022 federal byelection in the Mississauga-Lakeshore riding.
Journalism student Hailey Ford is representing the NDP. A graduate of White Oaks high school, Ford now attends Toronto Metropolitan University.
Oakville West
Last year, Liberal Pam Damoff, who currently represents the Oakville North-Burlington riding, announced she would not run for re-election back in May 2024.
Read more here: Pam Damoff not seeking re-election, citing abuse and threats
Following that, Sima Acan was acclaimed as the Liberal candidate in Oakville West.
Acan has a background in electronics engineering and worked as chief financial officer for a small Burlington-based industrial automation and robotics business. She also worked as an Oakville real estate broker and served as the first female president of the Oakville Lions Club.
Tim Crowder, the Conservative candidate in Oakville West, is a former banking and wealth management executive who has also owned several marketing consulting firms.
A Glen Abbey resident, he has been involved in coaching minor sports, leading the parent teacher association and serving as a board member for the College of Nurses of Ontario.
Federal election day 2025 will take place Monday, April 28, 2025.