Family physician and health care advocate Dr. Danielle Martin has been announced as the Liberal candidate for the riding of University-Rosedale in an as yet to be called federal by-election to replace Chrystia Freeland.
Martin has more than two decades of experience caring for patients in her family medicine practice, advising governments on health care policy, and working to strengthen Canada’s public health care system. She has served as Executive Vice-President at Women’s College Hospital and led the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, the largest academic department of family medicine in the world.
In 2014, Martin appeared before a U.S. Senate subcommittee, earning widespread recognition for her remarks about Canada’s public health care system. In 2019, she became the youngest physician to receive the F.N.G. Starr Award, the highest honour of the Canadian Medical Association.
“Danielle Martin has spent her career working to improve health care for Canadian families,” said Liberal Party of Canada President Sachit Mehra in a release. “While Pierre Poilievre continues to double down on the same divisive politics Canadians rejected last spring, Danielle is ready to work with Mark Carney and our new Liberal team to build a stronger, safer, and more prosperous future for University-Rosedale.”
Freeland resigned as the MP for the Toronto riding on January 9 in order to take up a new voluntary role advising the Ukrainian government. She has represented the riding for more than a decade, being first elected in 2015 and subsequently re-elected in 2019, 2021 and in 2025, where she garnered 64 per cent of the vote.
The Canada Elections Act requires the writ to be issued between 11 and 180 days after the Speaker of the House of Commons notifies Elections Canada of a vacancy.
While no date has been announced, the earliest a byelection could be held would be March.
The riding is considered a safe seat for the Liberals, who are two seats short of a majority in the House of Commons following Freeland’s departure.
Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report
