Durham (federal electoral district)

Durham (formerly known as Clarington—Scugog—Uxbridge) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1968 and since 1988.

Its first iteration was created in 1903 from Durham East and Durham West ridings. It consisted of the county of Durham. The electoral district was abolished in 1966 when it was merged into the Northumberland—Durham riding. It was recreated in 1987 from parts of the Durham—Northumberland and Ontario ridings.

The second incarnation of the riding initially consisted of the Town of Newcastle, the townships of Scugog and Uxbridge, Scugog Indian Reserve No. 34, the part of the City of Oshawa lying north of Rossland Road, the allowance for road in front of lots 1, 2, 3 and 4, Concession 3 and part of the Town of Whitby lying north of Taunton Road.

In 1996, it was redefined to consist of the Township of Scugog, Scugog Indian Reserve No. 34, the Town of Clarington and part of the City of Oshawa lying north of a line drawn from west to east along Taunton Road, south along Ritson Road North, east along Rossland Road East, south along Harmony Road North and east along King Street East.

The electoral district was abolished in 2003 when it was redistributed between Clarington—Scugog—Uxbridge, Oshawa and Whitby—Oshawa ridings. Clarington—Scugog—Uxbridge was defined to consist of the townships of Uxbridge and Scugog, the Municipality of Clarington and the Mississaugas of Scugog Island reserve. In 2004, Clarington—Scugog—Uxbridge was renamed to its current name of Durham. Following the Canadian federal electoral redistribution of 2012, the riding lost territory to Pickering—Uxbridge and Northumberland—Peterborough South and gained territory from Oshawa and Whitby—Oshawa.

Following the report from the 2022 electoral redistribution, the riding will be redistributed into Bowmanville—Oshawa North (Clarington and Oshawa portions) and York—Durham (Scugog portion).

On August 24, 2020, then-Durham MP Erin O'Toole won the Conservative Party leadership election and was named Leader of the Official Opposition.

Demographics
According to the 2021 Canadian census

Languages: 81.8% English, 1.6% Tamil, 1.4% French, 1.4% Urdu

Religions: 52.1% Christian (21.7% Catholic, 7.0% United Church, 4.5% Anglican, 1.9% Pentecostal, 1.4% Baptist, 1.3% Christian Orthodox, 1.2% Presbyterian, 13.1% Other), 5.3% Muslim, 4.1% Hindu, 36.8% None

Median income: $45,600 (2020)

Average income: $57,600 (2020)

Geography
The riding is a mix of suburban, exurban areas. It contains all of Scugog, and the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, plus Oshawa north of Taunton Road and the western half of the Municipality of Clarington, which is home to over half the riding's population. Bowmanville is the riding's largest community. Most of the riding has supported the Conservatives in the 2019 and 2021 elections, with the strongest support coming from the riding's rural areas, especially in rural Scugog Township. The Liberals have been able to win much of the Oshawa part of the riding, outside of the city's rural northern section. The NDP have seen their strongest support in Oshawa and in Bowmanville.

Members of Parliament
This riding has elected the following members of Parliament:

Current member of Parliament
This seat is held by Conservative Jamil Jivani since a 2024 by-election to succeed former Opposition leader Erin O'Toole.