Many Candidates Of Indian Origin Running For Federal Elections In Canada

A federal election has been called and Canada will go to the polls on April 28. And not surprisingly, several candidates of Indian origin are running for the Canadian elections. While there may be changes in the days ahead as the election approaches, currently rough estimates put the number of Indian-origin candidates at 17 for the Liberal Party; 28 for the Conservative Party; 10 for the New Democratic Party (NDP); 4 for Green Party and 8 for People’s Party of Canada (PPC).

There are several high-profile Indian Canadians in the race to be elected as members of Parliament including many who are incumbents in the present Liberal government.

Anita Anand,

Daughter of Indian immigrant doctor parents, is one of the most prominent Liberal leaders and the minister of innovation, science, and industry, in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Mark Carney. She is, in fact, one of the few MPs from the previous Justin Trudeau government who have retained ministerial posts. Anand, who was previously the minister of transport, had earlier announced that she was stepping down from electoral politics. But she has changed her stand and is running from the Oakville riding (constituency) in Ontario, from where she was first elected in 2019.

Kamal Khera,

36, is the minister of health in PM Carney’s Cabinet and one of the youngest women to be ever elected to Canada’s parliament in 2015 from Brampton West. Khera, a registered nurse and community volunteer, moved to Canada as a young girl with her Indian parents. She is a graduate of York University, Toronto, with a bachelor of science degree. She is contesting the election in April from the same constituency.

Liberal leader and MP for Waterloo Riding, Bardish Chagger, was first elected in 2015 and was earlier minister of diversity and inclusion and youth. She also worked with the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre to foster diversity within the community and provide opportunities for social and economic engagement. Chagger, who graduated from the University of Waterloo with a bachelor of science, is contesting the election from the same constituency.

Is the Liberal candidate for Calgary East in the federal election. The daughter of well-respected Conservative leader Deepak Obhrai, who was MP in the Canadian parliament from 1997 to 2019; Obhrai Martin is making a debut in politics. She is a communications specialist and strategist and has been a publisher, journalist, campaign manager, and event coordinator. Her father, the late Deepak Obhrai, was a prominent Canadian Indian community leader and a Conservative MP from the Calgary Heritage seat. Harnirjodh George Chahal, the incumbent MP for Calgary Skyview riding, is now the Liberal Party candidate for Calgary McKnight.

Amarjeet Sohi, the mayor of Edmonton, has stepped down from his position to run for the Liberal Party in the upcoming federal election, from Edmonton Southeast. If Sohi wins, he will resign as mayor. Randeep Singh Sarai of the Liberal Party is the incumbent MP representing Surrey Centre since 2015 and is running from the same riding again. He was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Sikh parents who had immigrated from Sarai Khas, Punjab. Sukh Dhaliwal is the Liberal Party MP for Surrey-Newton having won elections in 2015 and 2019. He is contesting from the same seat. He previously served as the MP for Newton-North Delta from 2006 to 2011. A professional engineer, Fellow of Engineers Canada, land surveyor, and small business owner, Dhaliwal worked in many community capacities in Surrey before entering public life.

Is the Liberal Party MP for Richmond East – Steveston since he won the elections in the 2021 federal election. Before his election, Bains was an instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and a media and public relations officer with the provincial government. He ran for Richmond City Council in the 2018 municipal elections. His family immigrated to Canada from Punjab. He is running for the same seat again in 2025.

Is contesting from the Winnipeg Centre seat. The Liberal Party has fielded the former party staffer who worked in Ottawa for MPs Terry Duguid, Anita Anand, and Pablo Rodriguez.

Maninder Sidhu is the MP representing the riding of Brampton East and he was first elected in 2019 and won again in the 2021 election. He has served as a member of the standing committee on natural resources and the standing committee on transport, infrastructure, and communities. He is also an active member of several parliamentary associations and interparliamentary groups. He is contesting the election from the same constituency again in 2025.

Other Liberal candidates of Indian origin include Amandeep Sodhi from Brampton Centre; Anju Dhillon – Dorval-Lachine-Lasalle; Gurbux Saini, a community leader and former city councillor, from Fleetwood-Port Kells; Iqwinder Singh Gaheer from Mississauga-Malton; Ruby Sahota – Brampton North – Caledon; Sonia Sidhu – Brampton South and Sanjiv Raval from Calgary Midnapore.

MP is a Conservative Party politician who was elected to represent the riding of Calgary Forest Lawn in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 Canadian federal election and was Conservative shadow minister for finance. He is now contesting from Calgary East. Born in Dubai to Indian parents, he immigrated to Canada as a child and was raised in Calgary. His campaign promises include lower taxes, better paycheques, and affordable homes in safe neighbourhoods.

MP, Calgary Heritage, is the Conservative candidate for the same constituency. Parm Gill (Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario) represented the Milton riding in Ontario’s legislative assembly between 2018 and 2024. As a member of the Conservative Party, he represented the riding of Brampton—Springdale in Ontario in the House of Commons of Canada from 2011 to 2015, holding roles as parliamentary secretary to the minister of veterans affairs and the minister of international trade from 2013 until his defeat in the 2015 federal election. In 2021, he was elevated to the Cabinet as the minister for citizenship and multiculturalism and became the minister of red tape reduction in 2022. He is the Conservative Party candidate for Milton East.

Is the Conservative candidate from the newly formed riding of Edmonton Gateway. He was previously Cabinet minister under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In Edmonton Mill Woods, Uppal was defeated by Liberal Amarjeet Sohi in 2015 but took the riding for the Conservatives in 2019. Uppal held the seat in the 2021 election.

Is the Conservative candidate from the Abbotsford-South Langley riding. Gill is a resident of the area and is engaged in farming. In a statement, he said he wants to focus on agriculture and farming, on public safety and stricter laws, on making homeownership more affordable, tackling drug use in parks, and streamlining efforts to get foreign-trained doctors, nurses, and other skilled people recognised and working in Canada.

Jessy Sahota,

A police officer, is the Conservative Party’s candidate for Delta. He is a member of the Delta Police Department, a multi-sport athlete and volunteer sports coach. He has accompanied Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and spent time campaigning in the riding. He has said that he is contesting because he believes it’s time for change after 10 years of the Liberal government. Sahota was recognised by the International Association of Chiefs of Police as one of the world’s top 40 police officers under 40, and his police service and volunteering efforts earned him a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee award in 2023.

Gurvir Khaira, a University of Guelph graduate, is the Conservative candidate for the Guelph constituency and Bob Dosanjh Singh, a business owner, and media personality, is the MP and Conservative candidate for Brampton East.

The other Conservative candidates of Indian origin are Suchita Jalan – Scarborough; Gurmit Sandhu – Scarborough North; Don Patel – Etobicoke North; Bijay Paudel – Humber; Barbara Bal – Nepean, her husband is Punjabi Indian; Taran Chahal – Brampton Centre; Amandeep Judge – Brampton North; Sukhdeep Kang – Brampton South; Amarjeet Gill – Brampton West; Nita Kang – Mississauga East; Jaspreet Sandhu – Mississauga – Malton; Arpan Khanna – Oxford; Harbinder Gill – Windsor West; Jagsharan Singh Mahal – Edmonton Southeast; Dalwinder Gill – Calgary McKnight; Amanpreet Gill – Calgary Skyview; Sukh Pandher – Fleetwood-Port; Rajvir Dhillon – Surrey Centre; Harjeet Singh Gill – Surrey Newton; Avi Nayyar – Vancouver Fraserview; and Ravinder Bhatia – Vancouver – Kingsway.

Is the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) since 2017 and the MP for Burnaby South since 2019. He was elected to the legislative assembly of Ontario in 2011, representing Bramalea—Gore—Malton until his entry into federal politics. He is the first Sikh to be elected to lead a major federal political party in Canada. Besides his own constituency, he is actively campaigning for NDP candidates across Canada. Other Indo-Canadian NDP candidates include Harpreet Grewal – Edmonton Southeast; Shyam Shukla – Nepean; Rajesh Angral – Calgary Skyview; Vanessa Sharma – Cloverdale; Rai Singh Toor – Surrey Newton; Manoj Bhangu Vancouver-Fraserview and Sukhi Sahota – Vancouver-Granville.

Is the People’s Party of Canada candidate for Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee. Born and raised in Canada, and a resident of the riding for more than a decade, he is highlighting issues like soaring housing costs, long healthcare wait times, and the threat of wildfires in his campaign. He has said that he is running to restore true conservative values, focusing on fiscal responsibility, limited government, national sovereignty, and bold action to protect Canadian jobs. “He believes that immigrants should respect Canadian values and contribute positively, not strain resources or take opportunities from locals,” the PPC website says. Dhillon is running an AI-powered campaign. Other Canadians of Indian origin running for PPC include Vageesh Sabharwal – King Vaughan; Vijay Tangri – York South; Simmi Hundal – Brampton Centre; Jayesh Brahmbhatt – Brampton Chinguacousy Park; Jeff Lal -Brampton East; Sat Anand – Brampton North-Calendon; Amit Sonik – Brampton West and Amit Gupta – Mississauga East. Sarun Balaranjan is running as a representative of the Green Party from Etobicoke North. Ashok Patel from Edmonton Sherwood and Minesh Patel from Skyview Calgary are running as independents.