Vancouver East (federal electoral district)

For the defunct provincial electoral district of the same name, see Vancouver East (provincial electoral district). For the area of Vancouver, see East Vancouver. For other uses, see Vancouver East (disambiguation).

Vancouver East (French: Vancouver-Est) is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1935. It is currently represented by New Democratic Party MP Jenny Kwan.

Vancouver East

British Columbia electoral district
Interactive map of riding boundaries from the 2015 federal election
Federal electoral district
Legislature	House of Commons
MP	Jenny Kwan New Democratic
District created	1933
First contested	1935
Last contested	2025
District webpage	profile, map
Demographics
Population (2021)[1]	118,675
Electors (2015)	85,900
Area (km²)[1]	21.66
Pop. density (per km²)	5,479
Census division(s)	Metro Vancouver
Census subdivision(s)	Vancouver (part)

Vancouver East is known as a New Democratic Party stronghold; the NDP and its Co-operative Commonwealth Federation predecessor have won all but two elections in the riding since its creation in 1933. Both losses (1974 and 1993) have come at the hands of Liberal candidates who failed to retain the seat at the next election. The Conservative Party and its right-leaning predecessors have always fared poorly in the riding, rarely garnering more than 20 percent of the vote.

In the 2006 federal election, the NDP won a higher percentage of the vote in Vancouver East than in any other riding in the country: 56.6 percent. In the 2011 election, the NDP increased its majority win to 62.83 percent.

Geography

The district includes the City of Vancouver neighbourhoods of Downtown Eastside, Mount Pleasant, Grandview–Woodland, and Hastings–Sunrise.

Federal riding associations

Riding associations are the local branches of the national political parties:

Party		Association name	CEO	HQ address	Neighbourhood
	Green	Green Party of Canada Vancouver East Electoral District Association	Jim Hankle	210 West Hastings Street	Downtown Eastside
	Conservative	Vancouver East Conservative Association	Edward Sem	3189 East 4th Avenue	Hastings–Sunrise
	Liberal	Vancouver East Federal Liberal Association	Mark Elyas	460-580 Hornby St.	Financial District
	New Democratic	Vancouver East Federal NDP Riding Association	Caelan Griffiths	138-2416 Main Street	Mount Pleasant
	Marijuana	Vancouver East Parti Marijuana Party Electoral District Association	Dan Crysler	240-2915 Kaslo Street	Renfrew Heights

Demographics

Though Vancouver East is home to a predominantly impoverished underclass populace, it is also home to a prominent industrial and working-class riding. The district is well-known for hosting North America's largest Chinatown, in addition to being one of the poorest areas in the Metro Vancouver Regional District, known as the Downtown Eastside. 42 percent of the riding's inhabitants are immigrants and 22 percent are of Chinese ancestry. A high number, 63 percent, of residents are renters. 24 percent of residents over age 25 have a university certificate or degree. Manufacturing, tourism, shipping, accommodation and food service industries are vital to the employment base in this riding. The average family income is over CA$61,000. The unemployment rate is about 7.7 percent.^[2]

The ethnically diverse area is home to many of the city's artists and socio-political activists. In recent years,^[when?] the area has been negatively affected by an influx of hard drugs and the concomitant social consequences associated with their use.

Panethnic groups in Vancouver East (2011−2021)

Panethnic group	2021[3]		2016[4]		2011[5]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
European[a]	58,615	51.5%	58,580	53.3%	52,315	50.34%
East Asian[b]	25,600	22.49%	26,880	24.46%	27,590	26.55%
Southeast Asian[c]	9,270	8.15%	8,975	8.17%	10,500	10.1%
Indigenous	5,940	5.22%	5,880	5.35%	5,055	4.86%
South Asian	3,850	3.38%	2,760	2.51%	2,310	2.22%
Latin American	3,330	2.93%	1,975	1.8%	1,950	1.88%
African	2,165	1.9%	1,685	1.53%	1,445	1.39%
Middle Eastern[d]	1,710	1.5%	1,065	0.97%	835	0.8%
Other[e]	3,320	2.92%	2,115	1.92%	1,925	1.85%
Total responses	113,805	95.9%	109,905	94.97%	103,920	94.39%
Total population	118,675	100%	115,724	100%	110,097	100%
Notes: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses. Demographics based on 2012 Canadian federal electoral redistribution riding boundaries.

History

The electoral district was created in 1933 from Vancouver South and Vancouver—Burrard ridings.

Vancouver East was one two electoral districts in British Columbia that saw no changes to its boundaries proposed following the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution.

Historical boundaries

• 
  1933 representation order
• 
  1947 representation order
• 
  1952 representation order
• 
  1966 representation order
• 
  1976 representation order
• 
  1987 representation order
• 
  1996 representation order
• 
  2003 representation order
• 
  2013 representation order
• 
  2023 representation order

Members of Parliament

Parliament	Years	Member		Party
Vancouver East Riding created from Vancouver South and Vancouver—Burrard
18th	1935–1940		Angus MacInnis	Co-operative Commonwealth
19th	1940–1945
20th	1945–1949
21st	1949–1953
22nd	1953–1957		Harold Edward Winch
23rd	1957–1958
24th	1958–1961
	1961–1962			New Democratic
25th	1962–1963
26th	1963–1965
27th	1965–1968
28th	1968–1972
29th	1972–1974		Paddy Neale
30th	1974–1979		Art Lee	Liberal
31st	1979–1980		Margaret Mitchell	New Democratic
32nd	1980–1984
33rd	1984–1988
34th	1988–1993
35th	1993–1997		Anna Terrana	Liberal
36th	1997–2000		Libby Davies	New Democratic
37th	2000–2004
38th	2004–2006
39th	2006–2008
40th	2008–2011
41st	2011–2015
42nd	2015–2019		Jenny Kwan
43rd	2019–2021
44th	2021–2025
45th	2025–present

Current member of Parliament

Its member of Parliament (MP) is Jenny Kwan. Kwan has served in the House of Commons since 2015. Prior to her federal service, she was a member of Vancouver City Council and the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. She is a member of the New Democratic Party.

Election results

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

v t e 2025 Canadian federal election
** Preliminary results — Not yet official **
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Jenny Kwan	24,885	43.58	–12.82
	Liberal	Mark Wiens	20,287	35.53	+15.77
	Conservative	Lita Cabal	10,162	17.80	+6.91
	Green	Nikida Steel	1,099	1.92	–5.80
	Communist	Kimball Cariou	339	0.59	–0.19
	People's	Meghan Emily Murphy	329	0.58	–2.21
Total valid votes/expense limit
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			57,101	62.78
Eligible voters			90,961
	New Democratic hold		Swing		–14.30
Source: Elections Canada[6][7]

v t e 2021 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Jenny Kwan	27,969	56.4		$70,443.58
	Liberal	Josh Vander Vies	9,797	19.8		$41,387.88
	Conservative	Mauro Francis	5,399	10.9		$9,491.11
	Green	Cheryl Matthew	3,826	7.7		$5,835.22
	People's	Karin Litzcke	1,382	2.8		$3,823.14
	Libertarian	Gölök Buday	831	1.7		$0.00
	Communist	Natasha Hale	387	0.8		$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			45,591	–	–	$119,373.85
Total rejected ballots			528
Turnout
Eligible voters
Source: Elections Canada[8]

v t e 2019 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Jenny Kwan	29,236	52.6	+2.66	$86,021.45
	Liberal	Kyle Demes	10,085	18.1	-10.06	$25,852.88
	Green	Bridget Burns	8,062	14.5	+5.31	$51,975.81
	Conservative	Chris Corsetti	6,724	12.1	+1.33	$4,528.19
	People's	Karin Litzcke	679	1.2	–	$7,718.34
	Libertarian	Gölök Z. Buday	562	1.0	–	$182.20
	Communist	Peter Marcus	177	0.3	-0.59	$476.56
	Marxist–Leninist	Anne Jamieson	86	0.2	-0.16	$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			55,611	100.0
Total rejected ballots			537
Turnout			56,148	61.1
Eligible voters			91,951
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+6.36
Source: Elections Canada[9][10]

2015 Canadian federal election: Vancouver East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Jenny Kwan	29,316	49.94	-12.89	$107,948.45
	Liberal	Edward Wong	16,532	28.16	+18.25	$103,236.57
	Conservative	James Low	6,322	10.77	-8.13	$10,430.75
	Green	Wes Regan	5,395	9.19	+1.54	$29,914.97
	Communist	Peter Marcus	525	0.89	–	–
	Independent	D. Alex Millar	216	0.37	–	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Anne Jamieson	214	0.36	-0.35	–
	Pirate	Shawn Vulliez	188	0.32	–	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			58,708	100.00		$226,454.95
Total rejected ballots			405	0.69	–
Turnout			59,113	67.44	–
Eligible voters			87,657
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-15.57
Source: Elections Canada[11][12][13]

2011 Canadian federal election: Vancouver East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Libby Davies	27,794	62.83	+8.41
	Conservative	Irene Yatco	8,361	18.90	+3.37
	Liberal	Roma Ahi	4,382	9.91	-7.32
	Green	Douglas Roy	3,383	7.65	-3.73
	Marxist–Leninist	Anne Jamieson	318	0.72	+0.31
Total valid votes			44,238	100.0
Total rejected ballots			275	0.62	+0.03
Turnout			44,513	56.21	+2
Eligible voters			79,184
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+2.52

2008 Canadian federal election: Vancouver East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Libby Davies	22,506	54.42	-2.15	$72,187
	Liberal	Ken Low	7,127	17.23	-6.19	$80,088
	Conservative	Ryan Warawa	6,422	15.53	+2.22	$45,821
	Green	Mike Carr	4,708	11.38	+5.38	$2,396
	Work Less	Betty Krawczyk	423	1.02	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Anne Jamieson	171	0.41	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			41,357	100.0		$83,047
Total rejected ballots			270	0.65	+0.18
Turnout			41,639	54	-2.4
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+2.02

2006 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Libby Davies	23,927	56.57	+0.11	$75,177
	Liberal	Dave Haggard	9,907	23.42	-2.50	$22,205
	Conservative	Elizabeth M. Pagtakhan	5,631	13.31	+3.32	$76,377
	Green	Christine Ellis	2,536	6.00	+0.31	$156
	Canadian Action	Bryce Bartholomew	293	0.69	–	$200
Total valid votes			42,294	100.0
Total rejected ballots			200	0.47	-0.26
Turnout			42,494	56.4	-1.76
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+1.30

2004 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Libby Davies	23,452	56.46	+14.19	$64,940
	Liberal	Shirley Chan	10,768	25.92	-7.81
	Conservative	Harvey Grigg	4,153	9.99	-7.53	$44,993
	Green	Ron Plowright	2,365	5.69	+3.24	$1,157
	Marijuana	Marc Boyer	399	0.96	-0.85
	Christian Heritage	Gloria Anne Kieler	250	0.60	+0.25
	Independent	Louis James Lesosky	147	0.35	–
Total valid votes			41,534	100.0
Total rejected ballots			305	0.73	0.73	-0.37
Turnout			41,839	58.16	+2.28
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+11.00
Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative vote in the 2000 election.

2000 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Libby Davies	16,818	42.27	+0.02	$56,481
	Liberal	Mason Loh	13,421	33.73	-3.33	$58,199
	Alliance	Sal Vetro	5,536	13.91	+1.81	$14,808
	Progressive Conservative	Michael Walsh	1,439	3.61	+0.89	$7,603
	Green	Kelly Elizabeth White	975	2.45	-0.99	$177
	Marijuana	David Malmo-Levine	724	1.81	–
	Canadian Action	Brian Bacon	432	1.08	–	$2,648
	Independent	Edna Mathilda Brass	196	0.49	–
	Independent	Gloria Anne Kieler	143	0.35	-0.28
	Natural Law	Rosemary F. Galte	97	0.24	–
Total valid votes			39,781	100.0
Total rejected ballots			444	1.10	-0.03
Turnout			40,225	55.88	-4.00
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+1.68
Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform Party vote in the 1997 election.

1997 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Libby Davies	14,961	42.25	+11.22	$52,043
	Liberal	Anna Terrana	13,123	37.06	+1.00	$52,663
	Reform	Keith Mitchell	4,287	12.10	+0.16	$11,525
	Green	Stuart Parker	1,221	3.44	+1.99	$2,871
	Progressive Conservative	Jerry Cikes	964	2.72	-6.10	$5,167
	Christian Heritage	Gloria Kieler	226	0.63	–	$844
	Natural Law	Wayne Melvin	185	0.52	-0.45
	Independent	Kimball Cariou	161	0.45	-0.41	$5,097
	Marxist–Leninist	Charles Boylan	158	0.44	+0.23
	Independent	Ryan Bloc Québécois Bigge	121	0.34	–
Total valid votes			35,407	100.0
Total rejected ballots			403	1.13
Turnout			35,810	59.88
	New Democratic gain from Liberal		Swing		+5.11

1993 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Anna Terrana	14,357	36.06	+6.29
	New Democratic	Margaret Anne Mitchell	12,357	31.03	-20.17
	Reform	Joan Stewart	4,754	11.94	–
	Progressive Conservative	Susan Tom	3,513	8.82	-7.09
	National	Bruce Frank Wright	2,403	6.04	–
	Libertarian	Wayne Marsden	811	2.04	+1.33
	Green	Kelly Elizabeth White	579	1.45	+0.43
	Natural Law	David Grayson	386	0.97	–
	Independent	Kimball Cariou	343	0.86	–
	Independent	Will Offley	103	0.26	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Brian Sproule	84	0.21	–
	Independent	Joe Young	71	0.18	–
	Independent	Alan Imrie	56	0.14	–
Total valid votes			39,817	100.0
	Liberal gain from New Democratic		Swing		+13.23

1988 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Margaret Anne Mitchell	20,108	51.20	-0.59
	Liberal	Raymond Leung	11,692	29.77	+4.40
	Progressive Conservative	Paul E. Nielsen	6,248	15.91	-4.32
	Green	Robert J. Light	401	1.02	–
	Libertarian	Heinz Holzschuher	278	0.71	-0.22
	Rhinoceros	Ruff Tuff Duff Duff Scott	277	0.71	-0.25
	Communist	Kim C. Zander	180	0.46	-0.27
	Independent	Cheryl Stephens Soroka	88	0.22	–
Total valid votes			39,272	100.0
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-2.50

v t e 1984 Canadian federal election: Vancouver East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Margaret Anne Mitchell	18,464	51.79	+7.88
	Liberal	Shirley Maple Wong	9,044	25.37	-14.64
	Progressive Conservative	Jack J. Volrich	7,210	20.22	+5.61
	Rhinoceros	Cameron H. McCabe	342	0.96	+0.35
	Libertarian	Sandy MacDonald	330	0.93	–
	Communist	Miguel Figueroa	259	0.73	+0.17
Total valid votes			35,649	100.0
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+11.26

1980 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Margaret Anne Mitchell	14,245	43.91	+1.21
	Liberal	Arthur John "Art" Lee	12,979	40.01	+0.97
	Progressive Conservative	David N. Kilbey	4,742	14.62	-1.92
	Rhinoceros	Dandy Randy Lyttle	198	0.61	–
	Communist	J. Fred Wilson	179	0.55	+0.02
	Independent	Paul Tetreault	61	0.19	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Chaouac Ferron	34	0.10	-0.03
Total valid votes			32,438	100.0
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+0.12

1979 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Margaret Anne Mitchell	13,697	42.71	+6.44
	Liberal	Arthur John "Art" Lee	12,522	39.04	+2.57
	Progressive Conservative	Cecil H. Leng	5,304	16.54	-8.91
	Social Credit	Carlo Dallavalle	334	1.04	–
	Communist	J. Fred Wilson	170	0.53	-0.59
	Marxist–Leninist	Brian K. Sproule	44	0.14	-0.55
Total valid votes			32,071	100.0
	New Democratic gain from Liberal		Swing		+1.94

1974 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur J. "Art" Lee	9,671	36.48	+5.13
	New Democratic	C.P. Paddy Neale	9,614	36.26	-12.55
	Progressive Conservative	Hartley Hubbs	6,747	25.45	+8.91
	Communist	Maurice Rush	298	1.12	+0.38
	Marxist–Leninist	Charles Boylan	181	0.68	–
Total valid votes			26,511	100.0
	Liberal gain from New Democratic		Swing		+8.84

1972 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	C. Paddy Neale	13,525	48.81	-1.20
	Liberal	John Minichiello	8,687	31.35	-5.21
	Progressive Conservative	John G. Balan	4,584	16.54	+7.63
	Social Credit	Walter Stunder	613	2.21	-0.51
	Independent	Maurice Rush	206	0.74	–
	Independent	Ian R. Hyman	92	0.33	–
Total valid votes			27,707	100.0
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+2.00

1968 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Harold Edward Winch	13,339	50.02	-6.87
	Liberal	Robert Kennedy	9,750	36.56	+17.51
	Progressive Conservative	Max E. Meyer	2,377	8.91	-0.21
	Social Credit	P. Daniel Emanuele	726	2.72	-10.91
	Communist	Charles Caron	477	1.79	–
Total valid votes			26,669	100.0
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-12.19

1965 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Harold Edward Winch	11,854	56.89	+2.59
	Liberal	Alexander C. Sharp	3,969	19.05	-4.65
	Social Credit	Walter W. Campbell	2,840	13.63	+5.91
	Progressive Conservative	Gladys Chong	1,900	9.12	-5.16
	Progressive Workers	Jerry Le Bourdais	274	1.31	–
Total valid votes			20,837	100.0
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+3.62

1963 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Harold Edward Winch	12,688	54.30	-0.04
	Liberal	Alexander Charles Sharp	5,538	23.70	+4.10
	Progressive Conservative	Gladys Guy Chong	3,335	14.27	-0.69
	Social Credit	Dorothy Jean Munnik	1,804	7.72	-0.51
Total valid votes			23,365	100.0
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-2.07

1962 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Harold Edward Winch	12,329	54.35	+5.79
	Liberal	Marino Culos	4,447	19.60	+10.41
	Progressive Conservative	Oris Kirk	3,395	14.97	-21.62
	Social Credit	Michael John McCann	1,867	8.23	+2.57
	Communist	Thomas Alexander McEwen	648	2.86	–
Total valid votes			22,686	100.0
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-2.31
New Democrat vote is compared to the Co-operative Commonwealth vote in the 1958 election.

1958 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Harold Edward Winch	11,486	48.56	+0.97
	Progressive Conservative	Norman Mullins	8,654	36.59	+18.45
	Liberal	Alexander Charles Sharp	2,175	9.20	-1.64
	Social Credit	Michael John McCann	1,338	5.66	-17.79
Total valid votes			23,653	100.0
	Co-operative Commonwealth hold		Swing		-8.74

1957 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Harold Edward Winch	10,782	47.59	-2.99
	Social Credit	John Chmelyk	5,312	23.44	-0.80
	Progressive Conservative	Norman Douglas Mullins	4,110	18.14	+12.99
	Liberal	Alexander Charles Sharp	2,454	10.83	-5.41
Total valid votes			22,658	100.0
	Co-operative Commonwealth hold		Swing		-1.10

1953 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Harold Edward Winch	10,192	50.58	+3.49
	Social Credit	Raymond McCarthy	4,885	24.24	–
	Liberal	William Reid	3,272	16.24	-17.78
	Progressive Conservative	Benjamin A.R. Morley	1,038	5.15	-9.12
	Labor–Progressive	Maurice Rush	764	3.79	-0.82
Total valid votes			20,151	100.0
	Co-operative Commonwealth hold		Swing		-10.38

1949 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Angus MacInnis	14,056	47.09	+2.40
	Liberal	William Reid	10,154	34.02	+12.28
	Progressive Conservative	Joseph Friend Day	4,261	14.28	-5.29
	Labor–Progressive	Charles McGregor Stewart	1,377	4.61	-7.35
Total valid votes			–	100.0
	Co-operative Commonwealth hold		Swing		-4.94

1945 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Angus MacInnis	16,003	44.69	+1.71
	Liberal	William Reid	7,786	21.74	-9.90
	Progressive Conservative	William Ward	7,008	19.57	–
	Labor–Progressive	Harold James Pritchett	4,283	11.96	+7.15
	Democratic	William Nicholas Wallace	729	2.04
Total valid votes			35,809	100.0
	Co-operative Commonwealth hold		Swing		+5.80
Labor-Progressive vote is compared to the Communist vote in the 1940 election.

1940 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Angus MacInnis	12,490	42.98	-7.93
	Liberal	John Henderson	9,196	31.65	+5.16
	New Democracy	William Wilfred Derpak	5,975	20.56	–
	Communist	Fergus McKean	1,398	4.81	-1.00
Total valid votes			29,059	100.0
	Co-operative Commonwealth hold		Swing		-6.54

1935 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Angus MacInnis	13,629	50.91
	Liberal	J. Lorne MacDougall	7,090	26.48
	Conservative	Thomas Todrick	3,364	12.57
	Communist	Malcolm Bruce	1,555	5.81
	Reconstruction	Clifford Norman Borton	1,134	4.24
Total valid votes			26,772	100.0
This riding was created from Vancouver South and Vancouver—Burrard, which elected an Independent Labour and a Liberal, respectively, in the previous election. Angus MacInnis was the Independent Labour incumbent from Vancouver South.

See also

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