The Political RecordFederal electoral districtsNo. 35079Ontario

Ottawa Centre

Ottawa-Centre

Ottawa Centre is a federal riding in Ontario. Yasir Naqvi (Liberal, first elected to the House in 2021) represents Ottawa Centre. Yasir Naqvi (Liberal) held Ottawa Centre for the Liberals in the 2025 election by 35,091 votes (43.1 points), with 62.7% of the vote. Joel Harden (NDP) was second with 19.6%, on a turnout of 77.4% of 105,823 electors. Member as of 2026-11-01.

Fig. 1 — Ottawa Centre on the board, 2023 boundaries; the ridings next door as the House holds them on 2026-11-01. Open it on the board →

Who represents Ottawa Centre

Yasir Naqvi's piece from the board. Illustration after the official portrait © House of Commons.

Yasir Naqvi

Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre

Liberal

MP since 2021-09-20 · 2 terms

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade and to the Secretary of State (International Development)
International Trade committee
Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure

123 speeches in the 45th Parliament, most often on International Trade.

Contact and office · House of Commons →

The 2025 result: Liberal hold

Share of the valid votes by candidate, Ottawa Centre, April 28, 2025

Shares of the 81,338 valid votes; a candidate under 1% is counted with the others. Source: Elections Canada, official voting results, the 2025 general election.

The figures

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share
Yasir Naqvi	Liberal	51,026	62.7%
Joel Harden	New Democratic	15,935	19.6%
Paul D'Orsonnens	Conservative	12,692	15.6%
Amanda Rosenstock	Green	916	1.1%
Others (5)		769	0.9%

Yasir Naqvi (Liberal) won Ottawa Centre on April 28, 2025 with 51,026 votes, 62.7% of the 81,338 valid votes. Joel Harden (New Democratic) was second with 15,935 (19.6%), 35,091 votes and 43.1 points behind.

Of the 81,338 valid votes, Yasir Naqvi (Liberal) took 62.7%, Joel Harden (New Democratic) 19.6%, Paul D'Orsonnens (Conservative) 15.6% and Amanda Rosenstock (Green) 1.1%; the 5 other candidates took 0.9% together. Turnout was 77.4% of 105,823 electors: 81,942 ballots cast, 81,338 of them valid, for 9 candidates.

Since 2021

Against the 2021 result on these boundaries, the Liberals are up 17.8 (44.9% to 62.7%), the New Democrats down 12.9 (32.5% to 19.6%), the Conservatives down 0.6 (16.2% to 15.6%) and the Greens down 1.7 (2.8% to 1.1%), in points of the valid votes.

2021 is Elections Canada's transposition of that election onto the 2023 boundaries, not an election held on these lines.

Since 2004: no party has held it

The party first in Ottawa Centre at each general election, 2004 to 2025, on today's boundaries

2004New Democratic38.4%by 6.1 points over the Liberals
2006New Democratic34.6%by 4.0 points over the Liberals
2008New Democratic36.7%by 8.3 points over the Liberals
2011New Democratic48.8%by 26.0 points over the Conservatives
2015changed handsLiberal44.4%by 8.5 points over the New Democrats
2019Liberal49.0%by 21.3 points over the New Democrats
2021Liberal44.9%by 12.4 points over the New Democrats
2025Liberal62.7%by 43.1 points over the New Democrats

Each election carried onto today's boundaries by where the riding's 2025 electors lived: our estimate to 2019, Elections Canada's transposition for 2021, the official result for 2025. Parties are counted as they ran.

The figures

Year	First	Share	Second	Margin (pts)	Basis
2004	New Democratic	38.4%	Liberal	6.1	carried, our estimate
2006	New Democratic	34.6%	Liberal	4.0	carried, our estimate
2008	New Democratic	36.7%	Liberal	8.3	carried, our estimate
2011	New Democratic	48.8%	Conservative	26.0	carried, our estimate
2015	Liberal	44.4%	New Democratic	8.5	carried, our estimate
2019	Liberal	49.0%	New Democratic	21.3	carried, our estimate
2021	Liberal	44.9%	New Democratic	12.4	transposed by Elections Canada
2025	Liberal	62.7%	New Democratic	43.1	official result

The NDP were first at four of the eight general elections from 2004 to 2025, the Liberals at four; it changed hands once. In 2025 the Liberals took 62.7% of the vote here, 26.7 points above their average of 36.0% at the seven general elections from 2004 to 2021.

On today's boundaries the NDP were first here in 2004 (38.4%), 2006 (34.6%), 2008 (36.7%) and 2011 (48.8%) and the Liberals in 2015 (44.4%), 2019 (49.0%), 2021 (44.9%) and 2025 (62.7%), each with the share of the valid votes shown.

A stronghold is a party first at every general election since 2004, by an average of 20 points or more over the next party; held, first at every one; usually, first at all but one. By-elections are not counted. By this rule 160 of the 343 ridings have no degree. The results before 2021 are carried onto today's boundaries by where the riding's 2025 electors lived: our estimate, from the older boundaries of Taylor, Lucas, Kirby and Hewitt and the results in Sevi's "Who Runs?". 2021 is Elections Canada's transposition, and 2025 the official result.

Before 2025

2021 Liberal · Yasir Naqvi, by 9,273 votes (12.5 pts)
2019 Liberal · Catherine McKenna, by 15,475 votes (19.7 pts)
2015 Liberal · Catherine Mary McKenna, by 3,113 votes (4.2 pts)

In the old Ottawa Centre on the 2013 boundaries, the riding most of the 2025 electors in today's Ottawa Centre lived in; Elections Canada's official results.

What kind of place Ottawa Centre is

Population: 126,5602021 census
Area: 42km²
Density: 3,013people per km²
Electors: 105,823on the 2025 lists

Distinctions · ranked against all 343 ridings

5th-most candidates on the ballot in Canada
9 candidates stood · 5th of 343
8th-highest turnout in Canada
77.4% of 105,823 electors voted · 8th of 343
5th-most university degrees
66.3% of 25–64s hold a bachelor's or higher, 5th highest of 343 (Share aged 25-64 with a bachelor's degree or higher, 2021 census)

Share aged 25-64 with a bachelor's degree or higher is 66.3% — about 2.4 times the median riding's 28.2%.
highestlowest5th highest of 343
Share of households that own their home is 41.3% — about 58 percent of the median riding's 71.4%.
highestlowest29th lowest of 343
Median age is 38.0 — a little lower than the median riding's 41.6.
highestlowest66th lowest of 343
Share with French as a mother tongue is 9.2% — about 5.7 times the median riding's 1.6%.
highestlowest95th highest of 343
Share who are immigrants is 21.3% — about 1.2 times the median riding's 17.3%.
highestlowest150th highest of 343
Median total household income is $85,000 — about the same as the median riding's $84,000.
highestlowest153rd highest of 343

2021 Census on the 2023 boundaries; each rule places this riding among all 343. Density is the census population over the riding's area.

IDid this riding change?

Yes. 90% of the 2025 electors in today's Ottawa Centre lived in the old Ottawa Centre; by area, 21% of the riding came from other ridings.

Share of today's electorsFormer riding

90.3%Ottawa Centre 78.9% of the area · 86% of it kept

9.7%Ottawa South 20.9% of the area · 12% of it kept

0.0%Ottawa West—Nepean 0.1% of the area · 0.1% of it kept

How this is measured. Electors: the share of the current riding's 2025 ordinary-list electors who lived in each former riding, each 2025 polling division placed in the 2013 riding a point inside it falls in. Area: the share of the current riding's area that came from each former riding, by intersecting the 2013 and 2023 boundary files, and how much of the former riding that part was. Area is land, not population. Elections Canada counts 48 of 343 ridings as entirely unchanged.

IIThe 2025 result

Candidate	Party	Votes	%	2021	±
Yasir Naqvi	Liberal	51,026	62.7%	44.9%	+17.8
Joel Harden	New Democratic	15,935	19.6%	32.5%	−12.9
Paul D'Orsonnens	Conservative	12,692	15.6%	16.2%	−0.6
Amanda Rosenstock	Green	916	1.1%	2.8%	−1.7

5 further candidates, each under 1% of the vote

Andrea Chabot	Other	268	0.3%
Marie-Chantal Leriche	Other	234	0.3%
Cashton Perry	Other	154	0.2%
Mike Salmon	Independent	66	0.1%
Zed Chebib	Independent	47	0.1%

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

Third place vs. the margin

12,692 votes

Conservative took fewer than the 35,091-vote margin.

Election-day polls won by others

1 of 231

No poll ended in a tie.

Fig. 2 — Each square is one election-day poll: ■ won by the Liberals (230) · ■ won by another party (1).

Flip the seatHypothetical

It would have taken 17,546 voters switching from Liberal to New Democratic — 21.6% of the 81,338 valid votes, 21.6 points — to change the result. No ballot was cast this way; this only moves votes between the top two.

Voters who switch: 0035,092

Liberal51,026

New Democratic15,935

Still Liberal by 35,091 votes. Actual margin: 35,091.

IVElection day versus advance

Only 49.1% of this riding's votes were cast at election-day polls. The rest were advance or special ballots.

On election day the Liberals took 58.5%, the New Democrats 19.9%, the Conservatives 18.9%, the Greens 1.3% and the others 1.1%; in advance and special ballots, 66.8%, 19.2%, 12.4%, 0.9% and 0.5%, in that order.

Share of the valid votes by party, election-day polls against advance and special ballots, Ottawa Centre, April 28, 2025

Shares of the valid votes cast at election-day polls, and of those cast at advance polls, at mobile polls and by special ballot; the gap is the second less the first, in points. Source: Elections Canada, poll-by-poll results, the 2025 general election.

The figures

Party	Election day	Advance and special	Gap
Liberal	58.5%	66.8%	+8.3
New Democratic	19.9%	19.2%	−0.7
Conservative	18.9%	12.4%	−6.5
Green	1.3%	0.9%	−0.4
Other	1.1%	0.5%	−0.6

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.

VWhere it is

loading basemap…

Fig. 3 — Ottawa Centre and its 4 neighbouring ridings.

Sources and citation

"Ottawa Centre — federal riding profile and 2025 results."
The Political Record. https://politicalrecord.ca/riding/ottawa-centre/
Accessed 2026-11-10.

Results and transposition: Elections Canada. Boundaries: Elections Canada / Statistics Canada, Open Government Licence – Canada. Census: Statistics Canada 2021 Census. Member: House of Commons.

Figures reconcile to the certified national total of 19,641,663 votes. The member is as the House of Commons listed them on 2026-11-01. Page built 2026-11-10.