Edmonton Strathcona

Edmonton Strathcona (formerly known as Edmonton—Strathcona) is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1953. It spans the south-central part of the city of Edmonton. In the periods 2008–2015 and 2019–2021, during the 40th, 41st, and 43rd Canadian Parliaments, Edmonton Strathcona was the only federal riding in Alberta not represented by the Conservative Party.

Geography
The riding is home to most of Edmonton's francophones. The historic district of Old Strathcona, the University of Alberta, the University of Alberta Campus Saint-Jean and the Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre are all located in the riding.

Edmonton Strathcona encompasses the neighbourhoods of Allendale, Argyll, Avonmore, Belgravia, Bonnie Doon, Capilano, Cloverdale, Empire Park, Forest Heights, Fulton Place, Garneau, Gold Bar, Grandview Heights, Hazeldean, Holyrood, Idylwylde, Kenilworth, King Edward Park, Lansdowne, Lendrum Place, Malmo Plains, McKernan, Ottewell, Parkallen, Pleasantview, Queen Alexandra Park, Ritchie, Riverdale, Strathcona, Strathearn, Terrace Heights, and Windsor Park.

It borders on the federal ridings of Edmonton Centre, Edmonton Griesbach, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, Edmonton Mill Woods, and Edmonton Riverbend.

This district is bounded:
 * On the north by the North Saskatchewan River (except for a jog that goes around the neighbourhood of Riverdale, which is north of the river).
 * On the west by the Whitemud Creek from the North Saskatchewan River to Whitemud Drive.
 * On the south by Whitemud Drive, from Whitemud Creek to the City Limits.
 * On the east by Edmonton's City Limits.

Political geography
As evidenced by the 2008 and 2011 elections, this riding is heavily polarized between more urban New Democratic Party (NDP) voters concentrated in the northwest of the riding and suburban Conservative voters concentrated in the south and east.

The NDP picked up this seat in 2008 for the first time in its history, when Edmonton lawyer Linda Duncan defeated Tory incumbent Rahim Jaffer, thanks to a consolidation of non-Conservative votes. They have retained the riding since and it has established itself as clearly the most left-leaning riding in Alberta and one of the safest seats for the NDP in the prairies.

Demographics

 * According to the 2011 Canadian census; 2013 representation 

Languages: 77.3% English, 3.8% French, 3.5% Chinese, 2.5% German, 1.5% Ukrainian, 1.3% Spanish, 1.3% Tagalog

Religions: 52.8% Christian (22.1% Catholic, 5.6% United Church, 3.5% Lutheran, 3.5% Anglican, 2.2% Baptist, 2.0% Christian Orthodox, 1.1% Pentecostal, 13.0% Other), 2.5% Muslim, 1.2% Hindu, 1.1% Buddhist, 40.6% No religion

Median income (2010): $35,026

Average income (2010): $46,710

History
The Strathcona riding dates back to Territorial times (see Strathcona (federal electoral district). It was represented by Liberal MPs, then a Liberal MP who after election became a Unionist, then became a Conservative), and a United Farmer of Alberta MP in that early incarnation. (This riding was abolished in 1924 and its area was split among the Edmonton East, Edmonton West and Vegreville ridings.)

The electoral district of "Edmonton-Strathcona" (later Edmonton Strathcona) was created in 1952 from Edmonton East and Edmonton West ridings.

"Edmonton—Strathcona" gained territory from Edmonton East and was renamed "Edmonton Strathcona" during the 2012 electoral redistribution.

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

Current member of Parliament
The current member of Parliament is Heather McPherson of the New Democratic Party who was first elected in the 2019 federal election and re-elected in the 2021 federal election. Winning 61% of the district vote in 2021, McPherson holds the largest margin of victory among elected NDP MPs in the 44th parliament.