Home Community News Election 2021: Toronto Centre, by the numbers

Election 2021: Toronto Centre, by the numbers

by Kayla Zhu

A breakdown of Ryerson University’s federal riding

A map of the Toronto Centre federal electoral district. (Elections Canada).

Toronto Centre will be a key riding to watch in this year’s election, with the riding seeing a virtually identical race as the 2020 byelection.

Ryerson’s riding will have the same candidates from the four major parties running again for a seat in Ottawa – including Green Party leader Annamie Paul.

Housing affordability, post-secondary education costs, homelessness and mental health are a few of the key issues this riding is facing.

For voters currently living in Toronto Centre, here’s a rundown of the riding, and its history.

The numbers

Population (2016 census): 103,805 residents

Population density: 17,785 per km² (densest riding in Canada)

Median household income: $50,462

Largest age group: 25 to 29 years (14 per cent) 

20 to 34 years (37 per cent)

Private households by tenure: Owner (29 per cent), renter (71 per cent)

Currently represented by: Marci Ien (Liberal)

Number of electors on the list: 79,566

Previous voter turnout: 31 per cent (Oct. 26, 2020 byelection), 66 per cent (2019 general election)




The candidates

Seven candidates are vying for Toronto Centre’s seat in the House of Commons, including:

  • Marci Ien, Liberal Party of Canada, incumbent

  • Brian Chang, New Democratic Party of Canada (Read On the Record’s Q-and-A with Chang here.)

  • Syed Jaffery, People’s Party of Canada (Read On the Record’s Q-and-A with Jaffery here.)

  • Peter Stubbins, Animal Protection Party of Canada

The riding

The riding consists of several downtown neighbourhoods, including Regent Park, St. James Town, Church Wellesley Village, Cabbagetown, Rosedale and the east part of the financial district.

Toronto Centre has historically been a safe seat for Liberals, who’ve held this riding since 1993. 

Toronto Centre was previously represented by former Liberal MP and finance minister Bill Morneau until he resigned in October 2020 in the wake of the WE Charity scandal.

Before Morneau, the seat was held from 2013 to 2015 by Chrystia Freeland — who also coincidentally took over as finance minister when Morneau resigned from the position in 2020.

Marci Ien of the Liberal party won the riding’s October 2020 byelection, beating runner-up and Green Party leader Paul by over 2,000 votes.

As of Sept. 16, election statistical modelling website 338Canada predicts that Liberals will hold Toronto Centre.

Screenshot of 338Canada Toronto Centre projection page. (338Canada).
This article may have been created with the use of AI software such as Google Docs, Grammarly, and/or Otter.ai for transcription.

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