Former Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson to run for Liberals | Daily Hive

Former Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson confirmed to run for federal Liberals

Gregor Robertson. (Sergei Bachlakov/Shutterstock)

Former Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has officially announced his candidacy in the upcoming federal election, representing a key riding for the Liberal Party of Canada in Metro Vancouver.

Robertson, who was previously the Mayor of Vancouver for a decade, will be running in the new riding of Vancouver Fraserview-South Burnaby.

“We’re facing unprecedented, urgent, complex challenges — and there’s no one better prepared to lead us through them than Prime Minister Mark Carney,” said Robertson in a statement Sunday afternoon, shortly after Carney received the Governor General’s approval this morning to dissolve parliament and call a snap federal election.

“His depth of experience, steady hand, and bold vision are exactly what this country needs right now. So when the Prime Minister asked me to run, the choice was clear,” continued Robertson.

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The general federal election day is scheduled for Monday, April 28, 2025.

“As Mayor of Vancouver, he put the city at the forefront of growth and innovation. Now he’s ready to help build a stronger Canada — and I’m grateful that he’s stepping up to serve and meet this moment,” said Carney in confirming the party’s selection of Robertson for the riding.

The riding of Vancouver Fraserview-South Burnaby was formed by the finalized federal electoral redistribution in 2023, based on the 2021 census results.

This new riding absorbs most of the geographical area of the previous ridings of Vancouver South, as well as a major area of the previous riding of Burnaby South and a small portion of the previous riding of New Westminster-Burnaby.

Vancouver South is currently held by Liberal MP Harjit Sajjan, a prominent member of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, but in January 2025, he announced that he would not seek re-election.

Sajjan gave his full endorsement to Robertson today.

“Gregor knows our community — its strengths, its struggles, and what’s at stake. He’s led one of Canada’s biggest cities through complex crises, built record numbers of affordable housing, and championed the voices of local communities — like ours — into national decisions on housing, transit, jobs, and safety. He brings unmatched experience and integrity needed to represent our riding with strength and clarity,” said Sajjan.

The current MP for the previous riding of Burnaby South is Jagmeet Singh, who is the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) of Canada. New Westminster-Burnaby is also held by the federal NDP through MP Peter Julian.

Singh will be running in the new riding of Burnaby Central, which includes the former northern area of Burnaby South.

For the Vancouver Fraserview-South Burnaby seat, Robertson will compete against Manoj Bhangu of the NDP, founder of the driving school Young Drivers and a board director of Black Top Cabs. The Conservative party has yet to confirm a candidate for this riding on its website.

While best known as Vancouver’s longest-serving consecutive mayor and one of its most consequential, Robertson briefly served as a provincial legislator, representing Vancouver-Fairview as an MLA for the BC NDP from 2005 to 2008, before vacating the seat to run for mayor.

Under the Vision Vancouver party, he won three civic elections in 2008, 2011, and 2024, but chose not to run for re-election in 2018 amid the civic party’s falling popularity.

During his mayoral tenure, Robertson focused on environmental policies — including making the City of Vancouver the “greenest city in the world” and a vocal opponent of pipeline expansion and increased tanker traffic — as well as expanding Vancouver’s cycling network and helping secure funding for the SkyTrain Millennium Line Broadway extension to Arbutus.

Some of Vancouver’s current housing supply approaches are built on the foundation of Vision Vancouver’s governance, including the 10-year Housing Vancouver targets (through 2028), Cambie Corridor Plan, Grandview-Woodland Plan, West End Plan, initiating the temporary modular housing strategy, and the launch of the years-long planning process for the Broadway Plan. However, his party’s time in power is also linked to the onset of steep declines in housing affordability and a rise in homelessness, despite a promise to “end homelessness” by 2015.

Robertson also led Vancouver through the pivotal period of preparing to host the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

After leaving Vancouver City Hall, he served various appointed roles for the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy.

In early 2020, he became the executive vice president of strategy and partnerships for Vancouver-based Nexii Building Solutions, which developed proprietary materials and techniques for constructing buildings faster, at a lower cost, and with greatly reduced emissions.

The startup saw immense success initially, reaching unicorn status (a valuation of over $1 billion) in September 2021 to become the fastest company to reach the unicorn milestone in Canadian history. By July 2022, Nexii was worth $2 billion.

But Nexii’s financial issues became apparent in late 2023, it entered creditor protection in early 2024, and it was sold in a bankruptcy sale in Summer 2024.

Robertson is also a co-founder of Happy Planet. He left the organic juice and smoothie company to run for provincial office with the BC NDP.

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