Former MP Nate Erskine-Smith to enter Toronto city council race

Posted August 18, 2026 7:10 pm

Updated August 18, 2026 7:14 pm

2 min read

Former federal minister and Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith is tossing his hat into municipal politics, confirming he’s after a Toronto city council seat in this fall’s election.

Erskine-Smith, who served as MP for Beaches-East York, confirmed to Global News Tuesday he’ll be running for the council seat for Ward 19 Beaches-East York.

The longtime politician’s run has been hinted at for weeks after he failed to secure the Ontario Liberal nomination for the riding of Scarborough Southwest for the upcoming provincial byelection.

The 42-year-old former lawyer was first elected to the riding in 2015 when the Liberals surged through much of Canada with their majority victory. He won re-election in the 2019, 2021 and 2025 elections.

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He was named Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities in late 2024 by former prime minister Justin Trudeau, and kept in the role when Prime Minister Mark Carney took over as leader. But following the 2025 federal election, he was dropped from cabinet.

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Following this, Erskine-Smith signalled he would leave federal politics and planned to run for the provincial Liberal nomination, with an intended bid for the party’s leadership also expected. He lost, but appealed to the party’s arbitration panel, alleging irregularities that included 34 more ballots counted than the number of recorded voters.

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The panel decided in late May that Ahsanul Hafix, who won the nomination, was the “true winner” of the vote.

After he failed to secure the nomination, Erskine-Smith said his planned leadership bid was “much less likely.”

In the months since, Erskine-Smith has suggested he was considering a run for city council which he confirmed Tuesday.

He resigned from his seat in the House of Commons last month.

Ward 19 Beaches-East York is one of two city council seats that currently have no incumbent running, though it was previously held by Brad Bradford who is challenging Mayor Olivia Chow for her position.

There are currently 10 candidates registered for the ward, including former journalist Natalie Johnson and former bureaucrat James Dann. Erskine-Smith has not yet filed his nomination papers as of publication.

Erskine-Smith confirmed to Global News he’ll enter the race Wednesday.