Aurorans set to go to the polls April 28 with new riding boundaries

March 27, 2025 · 0 Comments

The countdown to the April 28 Federal Election is on and while there will be some fresh faces on the ballot this year, there will be, for some Aurora residents, a new riding in which to vote.

Confirmed on the ballot at press time this week for the riding of Newmarket-Aurora were Conservative Party of Canada nominee Sandra Cobena and Liberal Party of Canada candidate Jennifer McLachlan.

McLachlan replaces long-time Liberal MP Tony Van Bynen who announced last year he would not seek re-election.

Some more familiar faces are confirmed for the Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill ballot with incumbent Liberal, Leah Taylor Roy, first elected in 2021, seeking re-election, facing off against former Conservative MP Costas Menegakis, who represented Richmond Hill in Ottawa from 2011 through 2015.

Candidates for the New Democratic Party of Canada and the Green Party of Canada are yet to be confirmed in both ridings.

Liberal leader Mark Carney asked Governor General Mary Simon, the King’s representative in Canada, to dissolve Parliament on Sunday, thus triggering the election call of April 28. The recently-minted Prime Minister will face off against Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-François Blanchet, and Green Party co-leaders Jonathan Pedneault and Elizabeth May.

Locally, the ridings of Newmarket-Aurora and Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill retain the same name, but the geographic boundaries of each have changed slightly since the 2021 Federal Election.

Previously, Aurorans living on the north side of Wellington voted in the riding of Newmarket-Aurora, while voters on the south side of Wellington found themselves voting in Aurora-Oak Ridge-Richmond Hill. This time, however, the boundaries of Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill partially extend north of Wellington.

Residents living on the north side of Wellington from Highway 404 in the east to Yonge Street in the west will continue to vote in Newmarket-Aurora.

Voters living on the south side of Wellington – again, from the 404 to Yonge Street – will continue to vote in Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill.

The northeast quadrant of Yonge and Wellington is where things change.

The area on the west side of Yonge Street up to Aurora’s border with Newmarket in the north, west to Bathurst Street, and going south all the way to Elgin Mills Road will now be part of Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill.

By Brock Weir