Former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson wins seat for Liberal party | Daily Hive

Gregor Robertson. (Gregor Robertson)

Former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson has made a successful return to politics, winning a seat for the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2025 federal election.

Robertson, who served as Vancouver’s mayor from 2008 to 2018, was a prominent figure in Canadian municipal politics, known for his focus on sustainability. His return to elected office marks a major political comeback after several years out of the public spotlight.

He won in the new riding of Vancouver Fraserview-South Burnaby, which spans areas of both the cities of Vancouver and Burnaby. It was formed by the finalized federal electoral district redistribution in 2023, based on the 2021 census results.

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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 — which was held by federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh — and a small portion of the previous riding of New Westminster-Burnaby.

With 207 of 220 polls reporting at the time of writing, Robertson is leading with 15,518 votes, followed by Avi Nayyar of the Conservative Party of Canada with 11,747 votes and Manog Bhangu of the NDP with 3,325 votes.

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While best known as Vancouver’s longest-serving consecutive mayor and one of its most consequential, Robertson previously served as a provincial legislator, representing Vancouver–Fairview as an MLA for the BC NDP from 2005 to 2008. He vacated his seat to launch a successful campaign for mayor.

Leading the Vision Vancouver party, Robertson won three consecutive civic elections in 2008, 2011, and 2014, before choosing not to seek re-election in 2018 amid declining popularity for the party.

During his decade as mayor, Robertson prioritized environmental policies, notably positioning Vancouver as a leader in sustainability with the ambitious goal of becoming the “greenest city in the world.” He also emerged as a prominent opponent of pipeline expansions and increased tanker traffic along British Columbia’s coast. His administration expanded Vancouver’s cycling network and helped secure critical funding for the SkyTrain Millennium Line Broadway extension to Arbutus.

Several of Vancouver’s current housing strategies trace their roots back to Vision Vancouver’s tenure, including the 10-year Housing Vancouver targets (running through 2028), the Cambie Corridor Plan, Grandview-Woodland Plan, West End Plan, the introduction of temporary modular housing, and the initiation of the Broadway Plan’s long-term visioning process.

However, his mayoralty is also associated with the worsening of housing affordability and a significant rise in homelessness, despite early pledges to “end homelessness” by 2015. Robertson additionally led Vancouver through preparations for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games — a transformative moment for the city.

Following his time at City Hall, Robertson took on international roles with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy.

In early 2020, he joined Vancouver-based Nexii Building Solutions as executive vice president of strategy and partnerships. The green construction startup quickly reached unicorn status in September 2021, becoming the fastest company in Canadian history to achieve a valuation of over $1 billion. By mid-2022, Nexii’s value had doubled to $2 billion. However, financial difficulties emerged in late 2023, leading the company to seek creditor protection in early 2024 before it was sold in a bankruptcy sale that summer.

Robertson is also a co-founder of Happy Planet, an organic juice and smoothie company he left to pursue his political career with the BC NDP.

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