Neethan Shan
Canadian politician (born 1978)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Neethan Shanmugarajah (born December 24, 1978) is a Canadian politician and youth advocate. He currently represents Ward 25 Scarborough—Rouge Park on Toronto City Council,[1] and is Toronto's first Tamil-Canadian councillor.[2]
Neethan Shan | |
|---|---|
| நீதன் ஷான் | |
| Toronto City Councillor | |
| Assumed office September 29, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Jennifer McKelvie |
| Constituency | Ward 25 Scarborough—Rouge Park |
| In office February 13, 2017 – December 1, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Raymond Cho |
| Succeeded by | Ward dissolved |
| Constituency | Ward 42 Scarborough—Rouge River |
| Chair of the Toronto District School Board | |
| In office November 13, 2024 – October 4, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Rachel Chernos Lin |
| Toronto District School Board Trustee | |
| In office November 15, 2022 – October 4, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | David Smith |
| Constituency | Ward 17 Scarborough Centre |
| In office January 25, 2016 – February 13, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Shaun Chen |
| Succeeded by | Abdul Hai Patel |
| Constituency | Ward 21 Scarborough—Rouge River |
| York Region District School Board Trustee | |
| In office December 1, 2006 – November 30, 2010 | |
| Succeeded by | Juanita Nathan |
| Constituency | Wards 7 and 8 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Neethan Shanmugarajah December 24, 1978 |
| Citizenship | Canadian |
| Party | Independent[a] (municipal) New Democratic (federal) Ontario New Democratic (provincial) |
| Other political affiliations | Liberal Party of Canada (2003–2007) |
| Spouse | Thadsha Navaneethan |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto (BSc, 2001) Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (BEd, 2003; MEd, 2012) |
| Occupation |
|
| Website | neethanshan.ca |
Early life and career
Shan was born on December 24, 1978, in Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka.[3] He was born Neethan Shanmugarajah. His father was from Neduntivu and his mother from Analaitivu.[4][5] He moved to Canada as a refugee in 1995 aged 16.[3][4][6]
Shan completed an honours bachelor of science (BSc) from the University of Toronto in 2001 and a bachelor of education (BEd) from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) in 2003.[3][7][8] He later received a master of education (MEd) in sociology and equity studies in education from OISE in 2012.[8]
He began his career as a youth outreach worker in Malvern, Toronto.[5][9] In 2001, aged 22, he became executive director of Canadian Tamil Youth Development Centre (CanTYD), a social service agency.[8] He then became manager of youth programs at Malvern Family Resource Centre.[8][10][11] In 2007, he became executive director of Council of Agencies Serving South Asians.[3][8]
Shan was vice-chair of the National Council of Canadian Tamils and chair of the Tamil Heritage Month Committee, which he founded in 2009.[4][6][12] He has served numerous other community groups including Better Ballot Initiative; Boreal Institute for Civil Society (project director); Canadian Tamil Congress; Community Use of Schools Council; Malvern Community Coalition; Parent Action on Drugs (project coordinator); Scarborough Youth Task Group; Tsunami Relief Coordinating Committee; and the Youth Gang Work Group.[3][8] He is also involved with Canadian Multicultural Radio, Tamil Vision International, the Tamil Canadian Centre for Civic Action, and the Urban Alliance on Race Relations. He was also a professor at Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology.[3][5][8]
Political timeline
Shan was elected in 2006 to the York Region District School Board representing Wards 7 and 8 in Markham.[13]
He later served with the Toronto District School Board in 2016 until 2017.[14]
While trustee, in 2016 Shan ran in a Provincial by election for Scarborough Rouge River (provincial district)[15] coming in third behind the winner, Raymond Cho.[16]
In 2017, Shan won a municipal by-election to represent Ward 42 (Scarborough—Rouge River) on Toronto City Council.[17]
Shan was defeated in the 2018 Toronto municipal election losing to Jennifer McKelvie.[18]
He returned to the Toronto District School board's Ward 17 in the 2022 General Municipal Election.[19]
In a September 2025 municipal by election he was elected to represent Ward 25 Scarborough—Rouge Park on Toronto City Council.[20]
He was a candidate for the Ontario New Democratic Party in Scarborough—Guildwood in 2023 and Scarborough North in 2025, placing third in both attempts.[21]
Personal life
Electoral record
Public school board trustee
Shan unsuccessfully ran for York Region District School Board (YRDSB) public school trustee for wards 7 and 8 in the 2003 Markham elections.[3][22] He was later elected to the school board following the 2006 Markham election.[3][13]
In January 2016, Shan was elected in a by-election to be the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) public school trustee for Ward 21 Scarborough—Rouge River.[23]
Returning to elected politics, Shan was elected as the trustee for Ward 17 in November 2022 after incumbent David Smith became the MPP for Scarborough Centre. After Rachel Chernos Lin's resignation from the school board, Shan was acclaimed board chair; he was acting chair since July 2024. He was previously vice-chair.[24][25]
Provincial politics
Shan took a leave of absence from the YRDSB to run in the 2007 provincial election as the Ontario NDP candidate in Scarborough—Guildwood but failed to get elected and returned to the school board.[3][26] He sought the Scarborough—Rouge River seat in the 2011 Ontario general election.[3][27]
In April 2012, Shan was elected president of the Ontario NDP.[3][4][28]
Shan ran in the 2014 Ontario general election as the NDP's candidate in Scarborough—Rouge River.[3] He contested the Ontario provincial by-election in Scarborough—Rouge River held in September 2016 as the NDP's candidate but again failed to get elected.[29]
Shan was nominated as the Ontario NDP candidate in the provincial riding of Scarborough Centre for the 2022 Ontario general election, but again failed to win.
Toronto City Councillor
Shan ran in the 2010 Toronto election as a candidate for Ward 42 Scarborough—Rouge River on Toronto City Council but failed to get elected.[3][30] He ran again in the 2014 Toronto municipal election.[3][31]
In February 2017, following the resignation of Councillor Raymond Cho, the Scarborough—Rouge River seat became vacant. Running in the subsequent by-election and was elected to Toronto City Council,[32][33] becoming the first Tamil-Canadian to serve on the council.[6][32] He ran for re-election in the 2018 municipal election in the new Ward 25 Scarborough—Rouge Park after the province aligned Toronto's 44 wards to match the federal and provincial electoral divisions. He was defeated by Jennifer McKelvie by 154 votes.[34] He endorsed Olivia Chow in the 2023 Toronto mayoral by-election.[35]
After McKelvie's resignation in 2025, Shan announced his candidacy for the seat. He was elected on September 29, defeating fellow trustee Anu Sriskandarajah.[36]
Ontario Legislative Assembly
| 2022 Ontario general election: Scarborough Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Progressive Conservative | David Smith | 11,471 | 35.99 | -2.46 | $20,592 | |||
| Liberal | Mazhar Shafiq | 9,678 | 30.37 | +8.23 | $96,601 | |||
| New Democratic | Neethan Shan | 8,358 | 26.23 | -7.14 | $79,499 | |||
| Green | Fatima Faruq | 892 | 2.80 | +0.48 | $381 | |||
| Libertarian | Serge Korovitsyn | 392 | 1.23 | -1.39 | $84 | |||
| New Blue | Hidie Jaber | 355 | 1.11 | $1,292 | ||||
| Ontario Party | Raphael Rosch | 297 | 0.93 | $887 | ||||
| Independent | Kostadinos Stefanis | 196 | 0.62 | $0 | ||||
| Independent | Paul Beatty | 156 | 0.49 | $579 | ||||
| Moderate | Maria Tzvetanova | 74 | 0.23 | $0 | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 31,869 | 99.22 | +0.33 | $109,001 | ||||
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | 251 | 0.78 | −0.33 | |||||
| Turnout | 32,120 | 41.25 | −11.94 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 77,114 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | −5.34 | ||||||
Source(s)
| ||||||||
| Ontario provincial by-election, September 1, 2016: Scarborough—Rouge River Resignation of Bas Balkissoon | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Raymond Cho | 9,644 | 38.58 | +10.92 | ||||
| Liberal | Piragal Thiru | 7,257 | 28.91 | -9.79 | ||||
| New Democratic | Neethan Shan | 6,905 | 27.40 | -3.91 | ||||
| Independent | Queenie Yu | 575 | 2.32 | |||||
| Green | Priyan De Silva | 216 | 0.86 | -0.51 | ||||
| Libertarian | Allen Small | 146 | 0.58 | |||||
| None of the Above | Above Znoneofthe | 133 | 0.54 | -0.42 | ||||
| Freedom | Wayne Simmons | 59 | 0.30 | |||||
| People's Political Party | Dwight McLean | 45 | 0.22 | |||||
| Pauper | John Turmel | 37 | 0.15 | |||||
| Trillium | Ania Krosinska | 36 | 0.14 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 25,182 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +10.36 | ||||||
| "Vote Totals Report from Official Tabulation (F0243) - 2016 By-election Scarborough-Rouge River (083)". Elections Ontario. p. 7. | ||||||||
| 2014 Ontario general election: Scarborough—Rouge River | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Bas Balkissoon | 16,095 | 38.71 | -3.17 | ||||
| New Democratic | Neethan Shan | 13,019 | 31.31 | -4.66 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Raymond Cho | 11,500 | 27.66 | +8.87 | ||||
| Green | George B. Singh | 571 | 1.37 | +0.12 | ||||
| None of the Above | Amir Khan | 398 | 0.96 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 41,583 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 479 | 1.14 | ||||||
| Turnout | 42,062 | 47.48 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 88,592 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +0.75 | ||||||
| "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate - June 12, 2014 General Election" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 6, 2015. Retrieved February 25, 2017. | ||||||||
| 2011 Ontario general election: Scarborough—Rouge River | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Bas Balkissoon | 15,237 | 41.87 | -23.18 | ||||
| New Democratic | Neethan Shan | 13,088 | 35.97 | +22.29 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Ken Kim | 6,837 | 18.79 | +4.32 | ||||
| Libertarian | Felix Liao | 457 | 1.26 | -0.16 | ||||
| Green | George Singh | 455 | 1.25 | -2.47 | ||||
| Family Coalition | Raphael Rosch | 166 | 0.46 | -1.20 | ||||
| Freedom | Daniel Walker | 150 | 0.41 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 36,390 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 215 | 0.59 | ||||||
| Turnout | 36,605 | 42.89 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 85,338 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -22.73 | ||||||
| "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate - October 16, 2011 General Election" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-06. | ||||||||
| 2007 Ontario general election: Scarborough-Guildwood | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Margarett Best | 14,430 | 42.52 | -10.03 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Gary Grant | 9,503 | 28.00 | -1.99 | ||||
| New Democratic | Neethan Shan | 7,441 | 21.93 | +9.23 | ||||
| Green | Glenn Kitchen | 1,811 | 5.34 | |||||
| Libertarian | Sam Apelbaum | 484 | 1.43 | |||||
| Family Coalition | Daniel Carvalho | 267 | 0.79 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 33,936 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Difference | 4,927 | 14.52 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 376 | 1.10 | ||||||
| Turnout | 34,312 | 51.28 | ||||||
| Liberal notional hold | Swing | -4.02 | ||||||
| "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate - October 10, 2007 General Election" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. xxiii. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 6, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2017. | ||||||||
Toronto City Council
- 2025 Ward 25 Scarborough—Rouge Park municipal by-election
| Candidate | Vote | % |
|---|---|---|
| Neethan Shan | 5,174 | 26.86 |
| Anu Sriskandarajah | 3,374 | 17.52 |
| Shawn Allen | 2,934 | 15.23 |
| Reza Khoshdel | 1,834 | 9.52 |
| Zakir Patel | 1,521 | 7.90 |
| Shean Sinnarajah | 1,441 | 7.48 |
| Darrell Brown | 601 | 3.12 |
| Anita Anandarajan | 507 | 2.63 |
| Brian Matthews | 397 | 2.06 |
| Dianna Robinson | 377 | 1.96 |
| Zia Choudhary | 295 | 1.53 |
| Ashan Fernando | 182 | 0.94 |
| Jamil Kerr | 176 | 0.91 |
| Jose Moreno Garcia | 154 | 0.80 |
| Walter Alvarez-Bardales | 101 | 0.52 |
| Donna LaRush | 59 | 0.31 |
| Shemar Shirley | 40 | 0.21 |
| Gregory Rodriguez | 35 | 0.18 |
| Huy Lieu | 35 | 0.18 |
| Kevin Cheatley | 23 | 0.12 |
| Toronto City Council election, 2018 Ward 25 (Scarborough—Rouge Park)[37] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Jennifer McKelvie | 11,624 | 40.21% |
| Neethan Shan | 11,470 | 39.68% |
| Paul Cookson | 1,897 | 6.56% |
| Amanda Cain | 831 | 2.87% |
| Cheryl Lewis-Thurab | 638 | 2.21% |
| Reza Khoshdel | 548 | 1.90% |
| Daniel Cubellis | 527 | 1.82% |
| Christopher Riley | 456 | 1.58% |
| Joseph Thomas | 428 | 1.48% |
| Jasper Ghori | 337 | 1.17% |
| Dave Madder | 151 | 0.52% |
| Total | 10,432 | 100.00% |
| Toronto City Council by-election, February 13, 2017 Ward 42 (Scarborough—Rouge River)[38] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Neethan Shan | 4,765 | 45.68% |
| Zuhair Syed | 1,452 | 13.92% |
| Hratch Aynedjian | 1,058 | 10.14% |
| Dipika Patel | 474 | 4.54% |
| Punch Sockalingam | 416 | 3.99% |
| Bev Dixon | 354 | 3.39% |
| Knia Singh | 324 | 3.11% |
| Kingsley Kwok | 322 | 3.09% |
| Sarah Chung | 241 | 2.31% |
| Ferduse Bari | 220 | 2.11% |
| Virginia Jones | 157 | 1.51% |
| David Nissan | 105 | 1.01% |
| Amanda Cain | 96 | 0.92% |
| Randy Washington | 71 | 0.68% |
| Stella Kargiannakis | 69 | 0.66% |
| Sohum Prashar | 33 | 0.32% |
| Mark Balack | 30 | 0.29% |
| John Kladitis | 30 | 0.29% |
| Mohammad Shabani | 30 | 0.29% |
| Deborah Dale | 29 | 0.28% |
| Khamy Ganeshathasan | 27 | 0.26% |
| Kevin Clarke | 25 | 0.24% |
| Sandeep Srivastava | 24 | 0.23% |
| Jobin Jose | 18 | 0.17% |
| Chai Kalevar | 14 | 0.13% |
| Arthur Smitherman | 14 | 0.13% |
| Elizabeth Huff | 11 | 0.11% |
| Aasia Khatoon | 6 | 0.06% |
| Tebat Kadhem | 3 | 0.03% |
| Total | 10,432 | 100.00% |
| Toronto City Council election, 2014 Ward 42 (Scarborough—Rouge River)[39] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Raymond Cho | 11,768 | 49.46% |
| Neethan Shan | 7,393 | 31.07% |
| Ken Jeffers | 1,074 | 4.51% |
| Gulam Mohamed | 1,048 | 4.40% |
| Neethan Sabaratnam | 911 | 3.83% |
| Sherri-Anne Williams | 521 | 2.19% |
| Dwayne Chin | 363 | 1.53% |
| Kabirul Mollah | 279 | 1.17% |
| Somu Mondal | 233 | 0.98% |
| Ganesh Kulasegarampillai | 107 | 0.45% |
| Venthan Ramana | 96 | 0.40% |
| Total | 23,793 | 100.00% |
| Toronto City Council election, 2010 Ward 42 (Scarborough—Rouge River)[40] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Raymond Cho | 10,811 | 52.93% |
| Neethan Shan | 6,873 | 33.65% |
| Shamoon Poonawala | 586 | 2.87% |
| Mohammed Ather | 474 | 2.32% |
| Namu Ponnambalam | 443 | 2.17% |
| Ruth Tecle | 437 | 2.14% |
| George Singh | 353 | 1.73% |
| Leon Saul | 323 | 1.58% |
| Venthan Ramanathavavuniyan | 125 | 0.61% |
| Total | 20,425 | 100.00% |
Toronto District School Board
| Toronto District School Board by-election, January 25, 2016 Ward 21 (Scarborough—Rouge River)[41] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Neethan Shan | 4,197 | 53.63% |
| Jack Wang | 1,258 | 16.07% |
| Kwesi Johnson | 408 | 5.21% |
| George Lin | 298 | 3.81% |
| Arjun Sahota | 266 | 3.40% |
| Yama Arianfar | 255 | 3.26% |
| Noah Ng | 184 | 2.35% |
| Sonny Yeung | 154 | 1.97% |
| Sharon Kerr | 153 | 1.96% |
| Ron McNaughton | 146 | 1.87% |
| Piravena Sathiyanantham | 121 | 1.55% |
| Aasia Khatoon | 103 | 1.32% |
| Kabirul Mollah | 59 | 0.75% |
| Andy Nguyen | 43 | 0.55% |
| Simone Si | 41 | 0.52% |
| Dwight McLean | 35 | 0.45% |
| Sahl Syed | 29 | 0.37% |
| Austin Han | 28 | 0.36% |
| Sandeep Srivastava | 25 | 0.32% |
| Kuga Kasilingam | 23 | 0.29% |
| Total | 7,826 | 100.00% |
York Region District School Board
| York Region District School Board election, 2006 Area 4 (Wards 7 and 8)[42] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Neethan Shan | 8,230 | 66.23% |
| Susie Gotha | 4,197 | 33.77% |
| Total | 12,427 | 100.00% |
| York Region District School Board election, 2003 Area 4 (Wards 7 and 8)[43] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Tessa Benn-Ireland | ||
| Neethan Shan | ||
| Kumar Nadarajah | ||
| Total | ||
Notes
- Municipal politicians are elected on a non-partisan basis in Ontario.