Oshawa (federal electoral district)

Oshawa

Ontario electoral district
Oshawa in relation to other Greater Toronto Area districts
Federal electoral district
Legislature	House of Commons
MP	Colin Carrie Conservative
District created	1966
First contested	1968
Last contested	2021
District webpage	profile, map
Demographics
Population (2021)[1]	131,067
Electors (2015)	94,928
Census division(s)	Durham
Census subdivision(s)	Oshawa

Oshawa (formerly known as Oshawa—Whitby) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that is represented in the House of Commons of Canada. It currently consists of the City of Oshawa south of Taunton Road. Historically, the riding was dominated by a working-class electorate.

The riding was first created in 1966 from parts of what are now Oshawa and Whitby, and was very competitive for its first 2 elections. However, the riding quickly became a New Democratic Party (NDP) stronghold during the tenure of Ed Broadbent and the riding continued to be that way until the early 1990s. During this period, the boundaries were changed twice, in 1976 and 1987, with the riding now consisting of southern and central Oshawa.

In the early 1990s, the unpopularity of both the NDP and the Progressive Conservatives (PCs) caused the Liberals to win the seat throughout the 1990s. After the PCs and the Reform Party merged to form the Conservative Party, the NDP tried to take it back by nominating a well-known labour leader but lost by a close margin. In the elections following 2004, the Conservatives continued to increase their share of the vote, as did the NDP to a lesser extent, at the expense of the Liberals. Despite large Liberal gains in 2015, the Conservatives continued to hold this riding. It has been represented by Conservative Colin Carrie since 2004.