Beaches—East York (federal electoral district)

"Beaches—Woodbine" redirects here and is not to be confused with Woodbine (electoral district).

For the provincial electoral district, see Beaches—East York (provincial electoral district). For the defunct provincial electoral district, see Beaches—Woodbine (provincial electoral district).

Beaches—East York (formerly Beaches—Woodbine) is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1988. This riding is situated east of Toronto's downtown.

Beaches—East York

Ontario electoral district
From the 2015 federal election to 2025 From the 2025 federal election Interactive map of riding boundaries
Federal electoral district
Legislature	House of Commons
MP	Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Liberal
District created	1987
First contested	1988
Last contested	2021
District webpage	profile, map
Demographics
Population (2021)[1]	109,359
Electors (2019)	80,981
Area (km²)[1]	16.64
Pop. density (per km²)	6,572.1
Census division(s)	Toronto
Census subdivision(s)	Toronto (part)

According to the 2016 census, Beaches—East York has a population of 109,468 and is not known for its ethnic diversity compared to other ridings in Toronto. Consequently, it is 63.9% white,^[2] and has the highest percentage of people of English (24.2%), Canadian (19.7%), and Scottish (18.9%) ethnic origins of all ridings in the City of Toronto.

Since 2015, two-term Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith has represented Beaches—East York. At the 2019 federal elections, Erskine-Smith secured the largest margin of victory (20,204 votes) and the all-time largest share of the vote (57.2%) in Beaches—East York.

This riding has been historically represented by the political centre to left, with Maria Minna (Liberal) being its longest representative to date, holding the office for six terms.

Geography

Beaches—East York is bordered by Coxwell Avenue to the west, the Don River and Sunrise Avenue to the north, Victoria Park Avenue to the east, and Lake Ontario to the south. The riding contains the neighbourhoods of the Beaches, Upper Beaches, East Danforth, O'Connor–Parkview, and part of Old East York.

History

The federal riding of Beaches—Woodbine was created before the 1988 federal election from Beaches riding. Before the 1997 federal election, it adopted its current name.

The original boundary of the riding of Beaches-Woodbine began where the southern extension of Leslie Street intersects with Lake Ontario, proceeds north along Leslie Street, then east along Queen Street East, north along Greenwood Avenue, east along Gerrard Street East, and north along Coxwell Avenue until it turns into Coxwell Blvd. at O'Connor Drive.

It continues a short distance along this street where the boundary extends until it meets Taylor-Massey Creek. It follows the creek west (downstream) until it meets the Don River East Branch. The boundary follows the river northeast (upstream) until it meets the point where a westerly extension of Sunrise Avenue intersects with the river course.

The boundary continues east along Sunrise Avenue until it meets Victoria Park Avenue. The boundary turns south and follows the street south until it ends at Lake Ontario. The boundary follows the lake coast back west until it meets the beginning point.^[3]

In 2003, the western boundary was altered so that the portion west of Coxwell Avenue was transferred to the neighbouring riding of Toronto-Danforth.^[4] This riding was unchanged after the 2012 electoral redistribution.

Members of Parliament

Since its creation as Beaches-Woodbine in 1988, Beaches—East York has been contested between Liberal and New Democratic candidates, with both parties nearly doubling Conservative vote totals.

Pre-2011

Hon. Maria Minna represented Beaches-East York for a record 18 straight years, as a member of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's and Prime Minister Paul Martin’s governments, and as a member of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition under Liberal Leaders Stéphane Dion and Michael Ignatieff.

2011

In the 2011 election the riding was won by New Democratic Party candidate Matthew Kellway, beating out Liberal incumbent Maria Minna by nearly 11%.^[5][6]

2015

Nathaniel Erskine-Smith defeated Matthew Kellway in the 2015 election by 10,345 votes.^[7] 2015 was Nathaniel Erskine-Smith’s first federal election.

2019

The incumbent MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith was re-elected with 32,168 votes.^[8] Mae J Nam was acclaimed as the NDP candidate on May 28, 2019 and was the runner-up, receiving 12,196 votes.^[9][8]

Beaches—East York has elected the following members of Parliament:

Parliament	Years	Member		Party
Beaches—Woodbine Riding created from Beaches
34th	1988–1993		Neil Young	New Democratic
35th	1993–1997		Maria Minna	Liberal
Beaches—East York
36th	1997–2000		Maria Minna	Liberal
37th	2000–2004
38th	2004–2006
39th	2006–2008
40th	2008–2011
41st	2011–2015		Matthew Kellway	New Democratic
42nd	2015–2019		Nathaniel Erskine-Smith	Liberal
43rd	2019–2021
44th	2021–2025
45th	2025–present

Demographics

According to the 2021 Canadian census^[10]

Languages: 67.9% English, 2.8% Bengali, 2.2% Cantonese, 1.8% French, 1.7% Greek, 1.6% Spanish, 1.4% Tagalog, 1.2% Urdu, 1.0% Italian

Religions: 43.3% Christian (20.0% Catholic, 5.3% Christian Orthodox, 4.1% Anglican, 2.7% United Church, 11.2% Other), 9.1% Muslim, 2.8% Hindu, 1.7% Jewish, 1.1% Buddhist, 40.6% None

Median income: $44,000 (2020)

Average income: $69,500 (2020)

Panethnic groups in Beaches—East York (2011−2021)

Panethnic group	2021[11]		2016[12]		2011[13]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
European[a]	67,300	62.03%	69,965	64.52%	70,455	66.45%
South Asian	12,290	11.33%	11,820	10.9%	11,015	10.39%
African	8,260	7.61%	7,130	6.58%	5,805	5.47%
East Asian[b]	6,975	6.43%	7,620	7.03%	7,030	6.63%
Southeast Asian[c]	4,280	3.94%	4,220	3.89%	4,560	4.3%
Latin American	2,225	2.05%	1,490	1.37%	1,310	1.24%
Indigenous	1,980	1.82%	2,055	1.9%	1,990	1.88%
Middle Eastern[d]	1,980	1.82%	1,665	1.54%	1,445	1.36%
Other/multiracial[e]	3,200	2.95%	2,470	2.28%	2,415	2.28%
Total responses	108,500	99.21%	108,435	99.06%	106,030	99.02%
Total population	109,359	100%	109,468	100%	107,084	100%
Notes: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses. Demographics based on 2012 Canadian federal electoral redistribution riding boundaries.

Election results

Graph of general election results in Beaches—Woodbine, Beaches—East York (minor parties that never got 2% of the vote or didn't run consistently are omitted)

Beaches—East York

Graph of general election results in Beaches—East York (minor parties that never got 2% of the vote or didn't run consistently are omitted)

v t e 2025 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Nate Erskine-Smith	39,804	67.75	+11.17
	Conservative	Jocelyne Poirier	13,830	23.54	+9.19
	New Democratic	Shannon Devine	4,027	6.85	−15.67
	Green	Jack Pennings	748	1.27	−1.45
	Independent	Diane Joseph	161	0.27
	Communist	Elizabeth Rowley	146	0.25	−0.01
	Marxist–Leninist	Steve Rutchinski	39	0.07	−0.03
Total valid votes/expense limit			58,755	99.47
Total rejected ballots			311	0.53
Turnout			59,066	72.51
Eligible voters			81,460
	Liberal notional hold		Swing		+0.99
Source: Elections Canada[14][15]
Note: number of eligible voters does not include voting day registrations.

v t e 2021 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Nathaniel Erskine-Smith	28,919	56.58	-0.65	$84,476.95
	New Democratic	Alejandra Ruiz Vargas	11,513	22.52	+1.23	$34,400.36
	Conservative	Lisa Robinson*	7,336	14.35	+0.19	$20,930.77
	People's	Radu Rautescu	1,613	3.16	+1.70	$0.00
	Green	Reuben Anthony DeBoer	1,388	2.71	-3.15	$1,906.03
	Independent	Karen Lee Wilde	166	0.32		$0.00
	Communist	Jennifer Moxon	131	0.26		$0.00
	Marxist–Leninist	Philip Fernandez	50	0.10		$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			51,116	99.34	–	$110,305.28
Total rejected ballots			340	0.66	+0.07
Turnout			51,456	65.05	-5.15
Eligible voters			79,102
	Liberal hold		Swing		-0.94
Source: Elections Canada[16] *After the ballots had been printed, but before the election day itself, Robinson was dropped by the party as the CPC candidate. She would not have been admitted to the Conservative caucus had she won.[17]

v t e 2019 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Nathaniel Erskine-Smith	32,168	57.2	+7.75	$74,562.95
	New Democratic	Mae J. Nam	11,964	21.3	-9.52	$91,821.20
	Conservative	Nadirah Nazeer	7,957	14.2	-2.23	none listed
	Green	Sean Manners	3,295	5.9	+3.32	none listed
	People's	Deborah McKenzie	822	1.5	-	$1,821.54
Total valid votes/expense limit			56,206	100.0
Total rejected ballots
Turnout
Eligible voters			80,981
	Liberal hold		Swing		+8.64
Source: Elections Canada[18][19]

v t e 2015 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Nathaniel Erskine-Smith	27,458	49.45	+18.69	$104,089.50
	New Democratic	Matthew Kellway	17,113	30.82	-10.82	$129,211.99
	Conservative	Bill Burrows	9,124	16.43	-6.31	$35,453.04
	Green	Randall Sach	1,433	2.58	-2.02	$3,691.94
	Independent	James Sears	254	0.46	–	$35,400.00
	Marxist–Leninist	Roger Carter	105	0.19	-0.08	–
	Independent	Peter Surjanac	43	0.08	–	$449.62
Total valid votes/expense limit			55,530	100.00		$208,561.84
Total rejected ballots			216	0.39	–
Turnout			55,746	73.18	–
Eligible voters			76,173
	Liberal gain from New Democratic		Swing		+14.76
Source: Elections Canada[20][21]

v t e 2011 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Matthew Kellway	20,265	41.64	+9.51	$ 68,735.05
	Liberal	Maria Minna	14,967	30.75	-10.22	$ 83,269.97
	Conservative	Bill Burrows	11,067	22.74	+5.66	$ 32,786.98
	Green	Aaron Cameron	2,240	4.60	-4.88	$ 12,901.50
	Marxist–Leninist	Roger Carter	130	0.27	-0.06
Total valid votes/expense limit			48,669	100.00	–
Total rejected ballots			193	0.39	+0.02
Turnout			48,862	68.54	+5.61
Eligible voters			71,286	–	–

v t e 2008 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Maria Minna	18,967	40.97	+0.59	$76,404
	New Democratic	Marilyn Churley	14,875	32.13	-2.83	$75,350
	Conservative	Caroline Alleslev	7,907	17.08	-0.96	$21,853
	Green	Zoran Markovski	4,389	9.48	+3.42	$22,434
	Marxist–Leninist	Roger Carter	155	0.33	+0.16
Total valid votes/expense limit			46,293	100.00	$82,179
Total rejected ballots			172	0.37	+0.04
Turnout			46,465	62.93	-7.08
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.71

v t e 2006 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Maria Minna	20,678	40.39	$73,454.03
	New Democratic	Marilyn Churley	17,900	34.96	$74,996.37
	Conservative	Peter Conroy	9,238	18.04	$74,667.09
	Green	Jim Harris	3,106	6.07	$9,644.25
	Progressive Canadian	Jim Love	183	0.36	$244.26
	Marxist–Leninist	Roger Carter	91	0.18
Total valid votes			51,196	100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			168
Turnout			51,364	70.51
Electors on the lists			72,844
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

v t e 2004 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Maria Minna	22,494	47.92	−4.9
	New Democratic	Peter Tabuns	15,156	32.29	+11.3
	Conservative	Nick Nikopoulos	6,603	14.06	−8.5
	Green	Peter Davison	2,127	4.53	+3.1
	Marijuana	Daniel Dufresne	365	0.77	−0.8
	Independent	Edward Slota	80	0.17
	Communist	Miguel Figueroa	62	0.13	−0.1
	Marxist–Leninist	Roger Carter	46	0.09	0.0
Total valid votes			46,933	100.00
Total rejected ballots			204	0.43
Turnout			47,137	64.02
Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.

v t e 2000 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Maria Minna	22,515	52.7	+4.8	$61,974
	New Democratic	Mel Watkins	8,936	20.9	−2.6	$54,232
	Progressive Conservative	Wayne Clutterbuck	5,766	13.5	+1.2	$13,989
	Alliance	Abu Alam	3,838	9.0	−5.3	$9,047
	Marijuana	Bruce Watson	683	1.6		none listed
	Green	James Mendel	599	1.4		$102
	Canadian Action	Randall Whitcomb	128	0.3		none listed
	Natural Law	Donalda Fredeen	88	0.2		none listed
	Communist	Ann Nicholson	82	0.2		$202
	Marxist–Leninist	Steve Rutchinski	53	0.1		$8
Total valid votes			42,687	99.6
Total rejected ballots			179	0.4
Turnout			42,866	56.9
Electors on the lists			75,284	100.0
Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in 1997 election. Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

v t e 1997 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Maria Minna	21,844	47.9	+8.0
	New Democratic	Mel Watkins	10,730	23.5	+5.0
	Reform	Gary Miller	6,534	14.3	-1.1
	Progressive Conservative	Jack Simpson	5,611	12.3	+1.6
	Green	John Scheer	589	1.3	+0.5
	Natural Law	Donalda Fredeen	264	0.6	0.0
Total valid votes			45,572	100.0

Beaches—Woodbine

Graph of general election results in Beaches—Woodbine (minor parties that never got 2% of the vote or didn't run consistently are omitted)

v t e 1993 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Maria Minna	17,582	40.0	+6.7
	New Democratic	Neil Young	8,151	18.5	-16.6
	Reform	Hugh Prendergast	6,773	15.4
	Progressive Conservative	Denise Cole	4,693	10.7	-18.6
	Independent	Terry Kelly	4,525	10.3
	National	John-Frederick Cameron	1,214	2.8
	Green	Leane Haze	357	0.8	+0.1
	Natural Law	Donalda Fredeen	276	0.6
	Independent	Keith Meadowcroft	195	0.4
	Abolitionist	Zahid Tirmizi	120	0.3
	Marxist–Leninist	Pierre Chénier	96	0.2
Total valid votes			43,982	100.0

v t e 1988 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democratic	Neil Young	15,760	35.2
	Liberal	Terry Kelly	14,900	33.2
	Progressive Conservative	Jim O'Malley	13,107	29.2
	Libertarian	Dennis Corrigan	351	0.8
	Green	Michael Tegtmeyer	317	0.7
	Independent	Ronald Clifford	259	0.6
	Independent	Wally Pearson	71	0.2
	Commonwealth of Canada	Charles Odell	48	0.1
Total valid votes			44,813	100.0

See also

• List of Canadian electoral districts
• Historical federal electoral districts of Canada