Overview of the Proposed Redistribution Plan – Ontario
Redistribution of federal electoral boundaries is governed by the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, which sets out the Commission's mandate and rules to be applied in redrawing boundaries.
The legislation mandates that each electoral district shall, as close as reasonably possible, correspond to the Provincial Electoral Quota ("the Quota"). The Quota is the total population divided by the number of districts. In addition, the Commission is obliged to also consider communities of interest or communities of identity in, and the historical pattern of, electoral districts, and a manageable geographic size for districts in sparsely populated, rural or northern regions of the province.
Pursuant to this mandate, the Commission proposes many new electoral boundaries for Ontario.
These proposed boundary changes are necessary due to the allocation of one additional district (bringing the total number of districts in the province to 122); and to correct wide variations in voter equality that have emerged across the province over the past decade due to population changes.
Some boundary adjustments are significant.
The ridings in Northern Ontario have been reduced by one, from ten to nine.
The ridings in the City of Toronto have been reduced by one, from 25 to 24.
The ridings in Halton, Guelph, and Wellington have been increased by one, from six to seven.
The ridings in Brampton, Caledon, and Dufferin have been increased by one, from six to seven.
One additional riding has also been added to Central Ontario, Eastern GTA, and Northern GTA.
It is necessary to adjust the boundaries of many other districts and rename districts as a result.
The Commission is presenting its proposal by referencing 15 geographic pieces. For each of these, the report presents visual illustrations of the existing and proposed electoral districts. It also provides a description of the most significant changes. In addition, the Commission has included two tables for each geographic piece, with the districts listed in alphabetical order.
The first table (A) lists the existing electoral districts, their populations in 2011, and their deviations from the 2012 Provincial Electoral Quota (i.e., at the time they were created), followed by their populations in 2021 and the resulting deviations from the 2022 Provincial Electoral Quota. The bottom rows present summary data for those existing districts including, most notably, the average deviation from the Quota and the range in deviations from the Quota. The range indicates the total magnitude of deviation from the Quota between the least and most populous districts in a geographic piece. This first table thus reveals the variation from population equality within a geographic piece as well as the changes that have arisen since the last redistribution.
The second table (B) lists the proposed electoral districts, their 2021 populations and their deviations from the 2022 Provincial Electoral Quota. The bottom row presents summary data for the proposed districts, including the range in deviations from the 2022 Provincial Electoral Quota.
Detailed maps of each of the proposed electoral districts with legal descriptions can be reviewed online at redistribution2022.ca via the Map Viewer tool, which allows each user to enter a specific address and locate the applicable electoral district.