Ruby Sahota

Ruby Sahota^[2] PC MP (born June 22, 1979)^[3][4] is a Canadian lawyer and politician. A member of the Liberal Party, she served as the Minister of Democratic Institutions from 2024 to 2025 and has represented the federal riding of Brampton North in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015.^[5][6] She also previously served as the Chief Government Whip from January to December 2024.

The Honourable Ruby Sahota PC MP
Sahota in 2025.
Minister of Democratic Institutions
In office December 20, 2024 – March 14, 2025
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Dominic LeBlanc
Succeeded by	Arielle Kayabaga
Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
In office December 20, 2024 – March 14, 2025
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Filomena Tassi
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Chief Government Whip
In office January 8, 2024 – December 20, 2024 Interim: January 8, 2024 – July 9, 2024
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Steven MacKinnon
Succeeded by	Mona Fortier
Member of Parliament for Brampton North
Incumbent
Assumed office October 19, 2015
Preceded by	Riding established
Personal details
Born	(1979-06-22) June 22, 1979 (age 45) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Tejinder Sahota
Children	1
Residence(s)	Brampton, Ontario, Canada[1]
Alma mater	McMaster University (BA) Western Michigan University (JD)
Profession	Attorney
Website	Official website

Early life and education

Sahota was born in Toronto after her parents arrived in Canada from Punjab, India in the late 1970s,^[7] and was raised in Brampton. Her father previously was the Chairman of the Ontario Sikhs and Gurdwara Council.^[8]

Sahota attended Brampton's Central Peel Secondary School from 1993 to 1998, and then graduated with an Honours bachelor's degree in Political Science and Peace Studies at McMaster University in 2003.^[9] She then attended Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, graduating in 2007.^[10]

Legal career

From 2007 to 2012, Sahota practiced law in Cleveland, Ohio, focusing on commercial litigation.^[11][12]

Political career

Sahota sought the Liberal nomination for the newly created riding of Brampton North, winning it on March 1, 2015.^[13]

The general election campaign involved some controversy, as Sahota's campaign criticized leaflets circulated by her opponent, Conservative incumbent Parm Gill, which it was alleged were deliberately aimed at confusing Sahota with previous Liberal Party MP Ruby Dhalla.^[14] Sahota defeated Gill to win the election.

Once elected, Sahota was appointed to both the Standing Committee on the Status of Women and the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. She was subsequently named to the Special Committee on Electoral Reform. On February 1, 2017, she was elected Chair of the Federal Liberal Ontario Caucus by her peers. As Caucus Chair, she presides over meetings, leads discussions, and is an important link between Ontario Liberal MPs and the Prime Minister's Office and Cabinet.

Sahota was appointed interim Chief Government Whip on January 8, 2024, replacing Steven MacKinnon while he was appointed interim Government House Leader while Karina Gould was on maternity leave. MacKinnon was promoted to Minister of Labour on July 9, 2024 making Sahota's appointment as whip permanent.^[15]

Sahota became Minister of Democratic Institutions and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario in December 2024. She was not selected by Prime Minister Mark Carney to be part of the 30th Canadian Ministry.

Personal life

She is married to podiatrist Dr. Tejinder Sahota and has a son named Nihal.

Electoral record

v t e 2025 Canadian federal election: Brampton North—Caledon
The 2025 general election will be held on April 28.
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	People's	Sat Anand
	Conservative	Amandeep Judge
	Liberal	Ruby Sahota
	New Democratic	Ruby Zaman
Total valid votes/expense limit
Total rejected ballots
Turnout
Eligible voters
Source: Elections Canada[16]

2021 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Ruby Sahota	22,976	53.87	+2.44
	Conservative	Medha Joshi	13,292	31.16	+3.49
	New Democratic	Teresa Yeh	6,386	14.97	-1.92
Total valid votes			42,654
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			42,654	56.61	-8.58
Eligible voters			75,344
Source: Elections Canada[17]
	Liberal hold		Swing		-0.53

v t e 2019 Canadian federal election: Brampton North
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Ruby Sahota	25,970	51.42	+3.05	$76,162.12
	Conservative	Arpan Khanna	13,973	27.67	-5.32	$100,060.30
	New Democratic	Melissa Edwards	8,382	16.90	+0.40	$17,829.85
	Green	Norbert D'Costa	1,516	3.00	+1.10	$0.00
	People's	Keith Frazer	510	1.01	–	none listed
Total valid votes/expense limit			50,502	99.03
Total rejected ballots			496	0.97
Turnout			50,998	65.19
Eligible voters			78,229
	Liberal hold		Swing		+4.11
Source: Elections Canada[18][19]

v t e 2015 Canadian federal election: Brampton North
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Ruby Sahota	23,297	48.37	+20.21	$136,386.70
	Conservative	Parm Gill	15,888	32.99	-15.88	$194,312.26
	New Democratic	Martin Singh	7,946	16.50	-2.34	$78,854.84
	Green	Pauline Thornham	915	1.90	-1.78	$146.44
	Communist	Harinderpal Hundal	120	0.25	–	–
Total valid votes/expense limit			48,166	100.00		$206,076.29
Total rejected ballots			318	0.66	–
Turnout			48,484	66.13	–
Eligible voters			73,321
	Liberal notional gain from Conservative		Swing		+18.05
Source: Elections Canada[20][21]