The Political Record · Federal electoral districts

Burnaby Central

Federal riding · BC · No. 59002 · 2023 representation order
Fig. 1 — Burnaby Central, 2023 boundaries.
Member
Wade Chang Liberal
2025 result
Liberal gain by 1,856 votes
Turnout
61.3% of 84,744 electors
Population
120,755 2021 census
Area
38 km²
Figures as of
2026-09-25
Distinctions · ranked against all 343 ridings
  • Lowest turnout in British Columbia: 61.3% of 84,744 electors voted · 3rd of 43 in British Columbia · 32nd of 343 in Canada3rd
    Lowest turnout in British Columbia
    61.3% of 84,744 electors voted · 3rd of 43 in British Columbia · 32nd of 343 in Canada
  • Changed hands in 2025: One of 58 of 343 ridings where the winning party changed from the transposed 2021 result (14 of 43 in British Columbia)58
    Changed hands in 2025
    One of 58 of 343 ridings where the winning party changed from the transposed 2021 result (14 of 43 in British Columbia)
  • Decided before election day: On election-day polls alone another party led; advance and special ballots decided it · one of 27 of 34327
    Decided before election day
    On election-day polls alone another party led; advance and special ballots decided it · one of 27 of 343
In brief
  1. Wade Chang took the seat for the Liberals by 1,856 votes (+3.6 points).
  2. 23% of today's riding was drawn from other ridings in 2023.
  3. On election day alone, the Conservatives led; advance and special ballots decided it.
  4. Share who are immigrants is the 22nd highest of 343 ridings.
Illustration after: © House of Commons
Member of Parliament
Wade Chang
Liberal · first elected 2025-04-28 · first term
  • Member: Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics
  • Member: Citizenship and Immigration
35 speeches in the 45th Parliament, most often on Government Business No. 6—Proceedings on Bill C-9 — Motion That Debate Be Not Further Adjourned — Consideration of Government Business No. 6.

IDid this riding change?

Yes. 23% of today's Burnaby Central came from ridings other than the old Burnaby South.

Share of today's areaFormer riding
77.3%Burnaby South 62% of it kept
15.9%Burnaby North—Seymour 5% of it kept
6.8%New Westminster—Burnaby 9% of it kept
How this is measured. Share of the current riding's area that came from each former riding, by intersecting the 2013 and 2023 boundary files. It is area, not population. Elections Canada counts 48 of 343 ridings as entirely unchanged.

IIThe 2025 result

Liberal gain
Elected
Wade Chang
Liberal
21,745
42.2% of valid votes
Margin
1,856
votes · +3.6 pts
Runner-up
James Yan
Conservative
19,889
38.6% of valid votes
Liberal 42.2% · Conservative 38.6% · New Democratic 18.2% · People's 1.0%
Turnout61.3% of 84,744 electors
CandidatePartyVotes%2021±
Wade ChangLiberal21,74542.2%31.0%+11.2
James YanConservative19,88938.6%22.0%+16.6
Jagmeet SinghNew Democratic9,35318.2%39.5%−21.3
Richard FarbridgePeople's5061.0%3.4%−2.4
The 2021 column is Elections Canada's official transposition of the 2021 result onto these 2023 boundaries. ± is the change in each party's share. It is not "swing": with four or more competitive parties there is no single pair to swing between.

IIIHow close was it, really

Swing needed to flip
1.8 pts
Half the margin: the share that would have had to move from first to second.
Third place vs. the margin
9,353 votes
New Democratic took more than the 1,856-vote margin. True in 100 of 343 ridings in 2025.
Election-day polls won by others
99 of 165
3 polls ended in an exact tie.
Fig. 2 — Each square is one election-day poll: ■ won by the Liberals (63) · ■ won by another party (99) · ▨ tied (3).
Flip the seatHypothetical

It would have taken 929 voters switching from Liberal to Conservative — 1.8% of the 51,493 valid votes, 1.8 points — to change the result. No ballot was cast this way; this only moves votes between the top two.

Liberal21,745
Conservative19,889
Still Liberal by 1,856 votes. Actual margin: 1,856.

IVElection day versus advance

Only 50.3% of this riding's votes were cast at election-day polls. The rest were advance or special ballots. On election day alone, the Conservatives led here — the seat was decided by ballots cast before the day.

Election dayAdvance & specialGap
Conservative42.0%35.3%−6.7
Liberal39.1%45.4%+6.3
New Democratic17.8%18.5%+0.7
People's1.2%0.8%−0.4
An association, not a cause. Voters who cast ballots before election day differed from those who turned out on the day. It does not say why. There is no poll-level turnout figure on this page: the elector count on a polling division includes people who voted in advance and were counted elsewhere.

VWhat kind of place this is

2021 Census, keyed to the 2023 representation order. Comparisons are against the median riding, not Canada as a whole. Each rule places this riding among all 343.

VIWhere it is

loading basemap…
Fig. 3 — Burnaby Central and its 6 neighbouring ridings.

The card

No. 59002BC · 2025
Burnaby Central
Wade Chang
Result
Liberal gain by 1,856
Turnout
61.3%
Population
120,755
Area
38 km²
Lowest turnout in British Columbia: 61.3% of 84,744 electors voted · 3rd of 43 in British Columbia · 32nd of 343 in Canada3rdLowest turnout in British ColumbiaChanged hands in 2025: One of 58 of 343 ridings where the winning party changed from the transposed 2021 result (14 of 43 in British Columbia)58Changed hands in 2025Decided before election day: On election-day polls alone another party led; advance and special ballots decided it · one of 27 of 34327Decided before election day
One of 343The Political Record

A card exists for every one of the 343 ridings.

Every figure on it is the figure on this page: the 2025 result and margin, turnout, the 2021 census population, the area, and the distinctions ranked against all 343 ridings. The portrait is an illustration after the official House of Commons photograph.

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