B.C. has new ridings for the 2024 election. Here's a look at them

he Oct. 19 election in British Columbia will feature new electoral districts that increase the number of seats in the legislature from 87 to 93.

It's part of a regular process, done once a decade, as an independent commission looks at B.C.'s population growth and recommends updates to riding boundaries.

Here is a look at some of the new seats:

Vancouver

The biggest change in Vancouver is the creation of three seats from an area largely covered by Vancouver-False Creek and Vancouver-Fairview in the last election.

The new ridings are Vancouver-Yaletown, Vancouver-South Granville and Vancouver-Little Mountain.

The NDP's Brenda Bailey, who won Vancouver-False Creek in 2020, is now running in Vancouver-South Granville.

The NDP's George Heyman, who previously held Vancouver-Fairview, is not running in this election.

In Vancouver-Little Mountain, the NDP is represented by city Coun. Christine Boyle , while the B.C. Conservatives are running with former park board commissioner and mayoral candidate John Coupar.

The B.C. Conservatives have named former councillor Melissa De Genova as their candidate in Vancouver-Yaletown, going up against NDP candidate Terry Yung, a former Vancouver police officer.

Burnaby-New Westminster

The area's seat count rises from five to six, with the new Burnaby-New Westminster riding created from portions of surrounding ridings Burnaby-Edmonds, New Westminster and Burnaby-Lougheed.

The area's ridings are now Burnaby Centre, Burnaby East, Burnaby-New Westminster, Burnaby North, Burnaby South-Metrotown, New Westminster-Coquitlam.

The NDP took all five previous seats comfortably in 2020 and the party has done well in the area in recent years.

All but one of the NDP incumbents are running for re-election. They include Raj Chouhan, who is facing the B.C. Conservatives' Deepak Suri in New Westminster; Jennifer Whiteside in New Westminster-Coquitlam, running against the B.C. Conservatives' Ndellie Massey; and Anne Kang, who is running against the Conservatives' Dharam Kajal in Burnaby Centre.

Surrey

Surrey is gaining one seat, Surrey-Serpentine River, but also sees big changes to its district boundaries. Surrey-Green Timbers and Surrey-Whalley have been reorganized into two new ridings, Surrey City Centre and Surrey North.

Surrey-Serpentine River was created from parts of nearby districts, including Surrey-Cloverdale, Surrey-Panorama and Surrey-Fleetwood.

The NDP won seven of nine Surrey-area seats in 2020, picking up Surrey-Cloverdale, which had historically favoured the former B.C. Liberal Party.

All but two of the incumbent NDP candidates are running for re-election, with Surrey-Newton's Harry Bains and Surrey-Whalley's Bruce Ralston stepping aside.

Former Surrey mayor Linda Hepner is running for the B.C. Conservatives in Surrey-Serpentine River, where she will face the NDP's Baltej Singh Dhillon — who made history as the first RCMP officer to be allowed to wear a turban as part of his uniform — and Independent James McMurtry. 

High-profile B.C. United defector Elenore Sturko is running as a B.C. Conservative in Surrey-Cloverdale, where she will face the NDP's Mike Starchuk, Pat McCutcheon of the B.C. Greens and Judy Meilleur with the Freedom Party of B.C.

Langley

Langley's two seats in the 2020 election have been split into three, with the creation of Langley-Willowbrook, Langley-Walnut Grove and Langley-Abbotsford.

The NDP scored major victories here in 2020, winning both seats that had been held by the B.C. Liberals for decades.

Both incumbents — Megan Dykeman and Andrew Mercier — return, and are joined by former federal Liberal MP John Aldag, who resigned from Parliament in May to run for the B.C. NDP in Langley-Abbotsford, where he will face Harman Bhangu of the B.C. Conservatives

Dykeman is up against Langley Township Coun. Misty van Popta, running for the B.C. Conservatives, in Langley-Walnut Grove, while Mercier faces the Conservatives' Jody Toor.

Langford

Greater Victoria's additional seat comes in the suburb of Langford, where Langford-Highlands was carved out mostly from Langford-Juan de Fuca, with the rest of that district renamed Juan de Fuca-Malahat for this fall's election.

The area is considered an NDP stronghold, with Langford-Juan de Fuca held by former premier John Horgan from 2009 to 2023.

Langford-Highlands will be contested by the NDP's Ravi Parmar and Mike Harris of the B.C. Conservative Party.

Kelowna

A new electoral district, Kelowna Centre, was created from parts of three surrounding ridings: Kelowna-Mission, Kelowna West and Kelowna-Lake Country.

The latter two have also been renamed West Kelowna-Peachland and Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream to reflect other boundary changes.

The area was traditionally a stronghold for the B.C. Liberals, which won all three seats comfortably in 2020. But none of the incumbents are running this year.

The candidates in Kelowna Centre are city councillor and Regional District of Central Okanagan director Loyal Wooldridge, who is running for the B.C. NDP; Kristina Loewen for the B.C. Conservatives; and former B.C. United candidate Michael Humer, who will run as an unaffiliated Independent.

Gavin Dew, who ran for the leadership of the B.C. Liberals in 2022, is running for the B.C. Conservatives in Kelowna-Mission, where he will face the B.C. NDP's Harpreet Badohal and another former B.C. United candidate, Ashley Ramsay.