Beaches—East York

Beaches—East York
Ontario electoral district
	Beaches—East York in relation to other electoral districts in Toronto (2013 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

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.

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

Map of Beaches-East York

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 General Election

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 General Election

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 General Election

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][10]

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

Parliament	Years		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–present

Demographics

According to the Canada 2021 Census[11]

Ethnic groups: 61.4% White, 11.3% South Asian, 7.6% Black, 5.2% Chinese, 3.3% Filipino, 2.5% Indigenous, 2.1% Latin American, 1.2% West Asian

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)

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)