AN OVERVIEW OF THE DUFFERIN-CALEDON RIDING

THE RIDING:

Dufferin-Caledon covers a large geographical area of 2,197 square kilometres, with a mix of rural and small communities.

As of the 2021 census, there are 142,838 people living in the region. The largest age demographic is the 15 to 64 group with 95,475 people, followed by ages zero to 14 with 25,400 people.

THE RACE:

Andrea Banyai - New Blue Party of Ontario

Laura Campbell - Green Party of Ontario

Erickumar Emmanuel Ontario Moderate Party

Bob Gordanier - Ontario Liberal Party

Sylvia Jones - Progressive Conservative Party of

Ontario

Lily Nguyen - Ontario Party

Tess Prendergast - Ontario New Democratic Party

Kat Sayer - Public Benefit Party

THE ISSUES:

There are a number of issues voters in DufferinCaledon typically highlight as being of major concern. Agriculture and economy are often at the forefront of these. In the 2022 election, other issues that have received a great deal of attention include the province's COVID-19 response, Highway 413, longterm-care facilities and funding, the housing crisis, and the state of Ontario's health-care system including nursing shortages and funding. Education is another key issue, as well as changes made to autism services during the current term.

BACKGROUND:

The riding has been through several changes in districts over the years, existing as the Dufferin-Peel riding for the 1990 and 1995 Ontario elections and Dufferin-Peel-WellingtonGrey from 1999 to 2005. As of the 2007 election, the riding became Dufferin-Caledon, listed as Electoral District 023. The Progressive Conservative party has won every election in the Dufferin-Caledon riding for provincial elections since 1999.

In the 2018 election, incumbent Sylvia Jones (PC) won with 29,702 (53.08 per cent) votes. The NDP candidate came in second with 11,381 (20.31 per cent) votes.