Yellowhead (electoral district)

For the provincial electoral district, see West Yellowhead.

Yellowhead

Alberta electoral district
From the 2015 federal election to 2025 From the 2025 federal election Interactive map of riding boundaries
Federal electoral district
Legislature	House of Commons
MP	Gerald Soroka Conservative
District created	1976
First contested	1979
Last contested	2021
District webpage	profile, map
Demographics
Population (2011)[1]	98,855
Electors (2019)	74,005
Area (km²)[2]	76,127
Pop. density (per km²)	1.3
Census division(s)	Division No. 9, Division No. 11, Division No. 13, Division No. 14
Census subdivision(s)	Brazeau County, Clearwater County, Drayton Valley, Edson, Grande Cache, Municipal District of Greenview No. 16, Hinton, Jasper National Park & Municipality of Jasper, Lac Ste. Anne County, Leduc County, Parkland County, Rocky Mountain House, Willmore Wilderness Park, Yellowhead County

Yellowhead is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1979. The district is in west-central Alberta and represents: parts of the Municipal District of Greenview No. 16 including Grande Cache, Improvement District No. 25 (Willmore), the Improvement District No. 12 (Jasper), the Municipality of Jasper, Yellowhead County including Hinton and Edson, Brazeau County including Drayton Valley, Lac Ste. Anne County including Alexis 133, Parkland County, Leduc County, Clearwater County including Big Horn 144A, Sunchild 202, and O'Chiese 203, and Rocky Mountain House.

History

The electoral district was created in 1976 from Rocky Mountain, Athabasca, Edmonton West, Pembina, and Wetaskiwin ridings.

Its first and most high-profile MP was Joe Clark. Clark was Prime Minister of Canada in late 1979 and early 1980. He remained a prominent figure on the Progressive Conservative front bench after losing the premiership, in opposition and as a cabinet minister under Brian Mulroney.

This riding lost territory to Peace River—Westlock and Sturgeon River—Parkland, while gaining territory from Wetaskiwin and Wild Rose, during the 2012 Canadian federal electoral redistribution.

Following the 2012 redistribution,^[3] portions of this electoral district (notably the town of Whitecourt) joined the newly formed riding of Peace River—Westlock while the regions of Leduc County and Rocky Mountain House were added to Yellowhead.^[4][5]

Demographics

According to the 2011 Canadian census

Languages: 90.5% English, 2.6% French, 1.7% German
Religions: 58.5% Christian (20.6% Catholic, 10.3% United Church, 4.3% Anglican, 4.2% Lutheran, 2.1% Baptist, 1.9% Pentecostal, 15.3% Other Christian), 1.0% Traditional Aboriginal Spirituality, 39.7% No religion
Median income (2010): $34,679

Panethnic groups in Yellowhead (2011−2021)

Panethnic group	2021[6]		2016[7]		2011[8]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
European[a]	79,195	82%	82,715	83.49%	84,470	86.85%
Indigenous	12,100	12.53%	12,060	12.17%	10,130	10.42%
Southeast Asian[b]	2,625	2.72%	1,820	1.84%	1,170	1.2%
South Asian	745	0.77%	520	0.52%	265	0.27%
East Asian[c]	720	0.75%	615	0.62%	390	0.4%
African	595	0.62%	540	0.55%	315	0.32%
Latin American	215	0.22%	310	0.31%	150	0.15%
Middle Eastern[d]	200	0.21%	185	0.19%	170	0.17%
Other/multiracial[e]	175	0.18%	305	0.31%	200	0.21%
Total responses	96,575	97.34%	99,070	97.14%	97,255	98.38%
Total population	99,218	100%	101,984	100%	98,855	100%
Notes: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses. Demographics based on 2012 Canadian federal electoral redistribution riding boundaries.

Riding associations

Riding associations are the local branches of political parties:^[9]

Party		Association name	CEO	HQ city
	Conservative	Yellowhead Conservative Association	Douglas E Woodhouse	Edson
	Liberal	Yellowhead Federal Liberal Association	Zachary E.D. Trynacity-Popowich	Edmonton
	Libertarian	Yellowhead Libertarian Association	Cory A. Lystang	Mayerthorpe
	Maverick	Yellowhead EDA	Robert W. Landers	Hinton
	New Democratic	Yellowhead Federal NDP Riding Association	Tom Boyce	Edmonton
	People's	Yellowhead - PPC Association	James Cuthill	Rocky Mountain House

Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following members of Parliament:

Parliament	Years	Member		Party
Yellowhead Riding created from Rocky Mountain, Athabasca, Edmonton West, Pembina and Wetaskiwin
31st	1979–1980		Joe Clark	Progressive Conservative
32nd	1980–1984
33rd	1984–1988
34th	1988–1993
35th	1993–1997		Cliff Breitkreuz	Reform
36th	1997–2000
	2000–2000			Alliance
37th	2000–2003		Rob Merrifield
	2003–2004			Conservative
38th	2004–2006
39th	2006–2008
40th	2008–2011
41st	2011–2014
	2014–2015		Jim Eglinski
42nd	2015–2019
43rd	2019–2021		Gerald Soroka
44th	2021–present

Election results

Graph of election results in Yellowhead (minor parties that never got 2% of the vote or didn't run consistently are omitted)

v t e 2025 Canadian federal election
The 2025 general election will be held on April 28.
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	People's	Vicky Bayford
	Liberal	Michael Fark
	Christian Heritage	Dale Heath
	New Democratic	Avni Soma
	Conservative	William Stevenson
Total valid votes/expense limit
Total rejected ballots
Turnout
Eligible voters
Source: Elections Canada[10]

2021 federal election redistributed results[11]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	35,998	60.23
	New Democratic	8,765	14.67
	Liberal	6,344	10.62
	People's	5,529	9.25
	Green	747	1.25
	Others	2,381	3.98

v t e 2021 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Gerald Soroka	33,603	66.2	-15.9	$18,788.06
	People's	Michael Manchen	6,475	12.7	+9.9	$3,063.64
	New Democratic	Guillaume Roy	5,977	11.8	+4.8	$0.00
	Liberal	Sheila Schumacher	2,829	5.6	+0.4	$0.00
	Maverick	Todd Muir	1,761	3.5	–	$9,914.16
	Veterans Coalition	Gordon Francey	147	0.3	+0.1	$0.00
Total valid votes/Expense limit			50,792	99.42	-0.04	$134,881.08
Total rejected ballots			294	0.58	+0.04
Turnout			51,086	69.2	-6.8
Eligible voters			73,799
	Conservative hold		Swing		-10.8
Source: Elections Canada[12]

v t e 2019 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Gerald Soroka	45,964	82.1	+9.85	$16,739.58
	New Democratic	Kristine Bowman	3,898	7.0	-2.05	none listed
	Liberal	Jeremy Hoefsloot	2,912	5.2	-9.02	none listed
	People's	Douglas Galavan	1,592	2.8	-	$4,988.84
	Green	Angelena Satdeo	1,272	2.3	-0.63	$0.00
	Libertarian	Cory Lystang	222	0.4	-1.16	none listed
	Veterans Coalition	Gordon Francey	108	0.2	-	$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			55,968	100.0
Total rejected ballots			303
Turnout			56,271	76.0
Eligible voters			74,005
	Conservative hold		Swing		+5.95
Source: Elections Canada[13][14]

2015 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Jim Eglinski	37,950	72.25	-5.81	$39,133.01
	Liberal	Ryan Maguhn	7,467	14.22	+11.32	$4,198.93
	New Democratic	Ken Kuzminski	4,753	9.05	-3.83	$1,285.08
	Green	Sandra Wolf Lange	1,538	2.93	-2.41	$19.05
	Libertarian	Cory Lystang	817	1.56		$3,093.70
Total valid votes/Expense limit			52,525	100.00		$258,177.16
Total rejected ballots			161	0.31	–
Turnout			52,686	71.20	–
Eligible voters			73,996
	Conservative hold		Swing		-8.57
Source: Elections Canada[15][16]

2011 federal election redistributed results[17]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	31,238	78.07
	New Democratic	5,155	12.88
	Green	2,136	5.34
	Liberal	1,158	2.89
	Others	328	0.82

v t e Canadian federal by-election, November 17, 2014 By-election due to the resignation of Rob Merrifield
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Jim Eglinski	7,884	62.57	−14.46	–
	Liberal	Ryan Heinz Maguhn	2,518	19.98	+17.11	–
	New Democratic	Eric Rosendahl	1,203	9.55	−3.51	–
	Independent	Dean Williams	622	4.94		–
	Libertarian	Cory Lystang	374	2.97		–
Total valid votes/expense limit				100.0		–
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			12,601	16.06	−40.10
Eligible voters			78,481		+6.00
	Conservative hold		Swing		−15.79
Source(s) "By-election Results". Elections Canada. November 17, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2014.

2011 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Rob Merrifield	31,925	77.03	+5.18	$ 44,010.72
	New Democratic	Mark Wells	5,411	13.06	+0.79	18.01
	Green	Monika Shaeffer	2,132	5.14	−4.05	4,290.85
	Liberal	Zack Siezmagraff	1,190	2.87	−1.11	4,013.79
	Christian Heritage	Jacob Strydhorst	404	0.97	−0.65	4,318.68
	Canadian Action	Melissa Brade	384	0.93	−0.16	753.39
Total valid votes/Expense limit			41,446	100.00	+10.85	$106,445.21
Total rejected ballots			129	0.31	+0.04
Turnout			41,575	56.16	+6.19
Eligible voters			74,036
Source(s) "Official Voting Results — Forty-First General Election 2011". Retrieved November 18, 2014. "Candidates' Details - Campaign Financial Summary (Part 4)". Elections Canada. May 2, 2011.

2008 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Rob Merrifield	26,863	71.85	+0.66	$ 56,963.15
	New Democratic	Ken Kuzminski	4,587	12.27	+1.32	5,958.90
	Green	Monika Schaefer	3,437	9.19	+2.56	2,250.26
	Liberal	Mohamed El-Rafih	1,489	3.98	−5.46	Not reported
	Christian Heritage	John M. Wierenga	606	1.62	−0.16	12,235.84
	Canadian Action	Melissa Brade	408	1.09	–	1,477.48
Total valid votes/Expense limit			37,390	100.00	−13.13	$103,154.58
Total rejected ballots			103	0.27	+0.05
Turnout			37,493	49.97	−10.22
Source(s) "Official Voting Results — Fortieth General Election 2008". Retrieved November 18, 2014. "Candidates' Details - Campaign Financial Summary (Part 4)". Elections Canada. October 14, 2008.

2006 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Rob Merrifield	30,640	71.19	+2.58	$57,683
	New Democratic	Noel Lapierre	4,712	10.95	−0.52	$6,110
	Liberal	Nancy Love	4,066	9.45	−2.05	$4,448
	Green	Monika Schaefer	2,856	6.64	+0.08	$499
	Christian Heritage	John Marvin Wierenga	765	1.78	−0.09	$15,607
Total valid votes			43,039	100.0	+11.42
Total rejected ballots			94	0.22	−0.03
Turnout			43,133	60.19	+3.6

2004 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Rob Merrifield	26,503	68.61	−10.1	$54,539
	Liberal	Peter Crossley	4,441	11.50	−4.1	$10,183
	New Democratic	Noel Lapierre	4,429	11.47	+6.8	$8,611
	Green	Eric Stieglitz	2,534	6.56		$2,297
	Christian Heritage	Jacob Strydhorst	721	1.87	+1.0	$13,333
Total valid votes			38,628	100.0
Total rejected ballots			96	0.25	−0.1
Turnout			38,724	56.6	−3.8

2000 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Alliance	Rob Merrifield	26,824	66.1	+0.1	$40,389
	Liberal	John Higgerty	6,348	15.6	+1.4	$20,093
	Progressive Conservative	Dale F. Galbraith	5,141	12.7	-0.5	$5,162
	New Democratic	J. Noel Lapierre	1,910	4.7	-0.1	$1,369
	Independent	Jacob Strydhorst	371	0.9	–	$8,158
Total valid votes			40,594	100.0
Total rejected ballots			151	0.4	+0.1
Turnout			40,745	60.4	3.5

1997 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Reform	Cliff Breitkreuz	22,960	66.0	+10.9	$49,326
	Liberal	Nancy Love Crawford	6,318	14.2	-7.5	$46,729
	Progressive Conservative	Ross Douglas Pugh	4,383	13.2	-0.8	$9,515
	New Democratic	Dennis Atkinson	1,759	4.8	+0.5
Total valid votes			35,420	100.0
Total rejected ballots			112	0.3
Turnout			35,532	57.0

1993 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Cliff Breitkreuz	22,790	55.0	+27.1
	Liberal	John Higgerty	8,964	21.6	+11.7
	Progressive Conservative	Marilyn Stecyk	5,766	13.9	-30.6
	New Democratic	Joe Woytowich	1,804	4.4	-11.0
	National	Alex S. Mann	1,147	2.8
	Christian Heritage	Peter Piers	441	1.1	-0.7
	Natural Law	Dennis Ronald Michaelchuk	284	0.7
	Independent	Douglas Bruce Pederson	209	0.5
Total valid votes			41,405	100.0

1988 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Joe Clark	17,847	44.5	-29.5
	Reform	Preston Manning	11,207	27.9
	New Democratic	Muriel Stanley Venne	6,172	15.4	+1.7
	Liberal	John Higgerty	3,987	9.9	+1.8
	Christian Heritage	John M. Torringa	708	1.8
	Confederation of Regions	Peter E. Hope	90	0.2	-1.4
	Independent	Pat Geo. A. O'Hara	86	0.2
Total valid votes			40,097	100.0

1984 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Joe Clark	37,462	74.0	+4.5
	New Democratic	Rick Hardy	6,906	13.6	+2.3
	Liberal	Louis H. Joy	4,097	8.1	-10.1
	Confederation of Regions	G.R. Snow	829	1.6
	Rhinoceros	Douglas Alan Bush	773	1.5
	Social Credit	Audrey Sweigard	553	1.1
Total valid votes			50,620	100.0

1980 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Joe Clark	27,953	69.5	-0.5
	Liberal	Laurie Switzer	7,302	18.1	+1.0
	New Democratic	Laird Mitchell	4,562	11.3	+2.6
	Independent	Robert L.T. Brower	249	0.6
	Independent	Brian K. Fallis	170	0.4
Total valid votes			40,236	100.0

1979 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Joe Clark	28,849	70.0
	Liberal	Laurie Switzer	7,083	17.2
	New Democratic	Bob Ritchie	3,600	8.7
	Independent	Lex Miller	1,535	3.7
	Independent	Ronnie B. Plaunt	143	0.3
Total valid votes			41,210	100.0

See also

• List of Canadian electoral districts
• Historical federal electoral districts of Canada

References

• "Yellowhead (electoral district) (Code 48028) Census Profile". 2011 census. Government of Canada - Statistics Canada. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
• Riding history for Yellowhead from the Library of Parliament
• Expenditures - 2008
• Expenditures - 2004
• Expenditures - 2000
• Expenditures - 1997

Notes

1. Statistic includes all persons that did not make up part of a visible minority or an indigenous identity.
2. Statistic includes total responses of "Filipino" and "Southeast Asian" under visible minority section on census.
3. Statistic includes total responses of "Chinese", "Korean", and "Japanese" under visible minority section on census.
4. Statistic includes total responses of "West Asian" and "Arab" under visible minority section on census.
5. Statistic includes total responses of "Visible minority, n.i.e." and "Multiple visible minorities" under visible minority section on census.

1. Statistics Canada: 2011
2. Statistics Canada: 2011
3. Report of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for the Province of Alberta 2012 (PDF). Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for the Province of Alberta. April 6, 2013. ISBN 978-1-100-22175-5. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
4. "Yellowhead – Maps Corner/Boundaries description". Elections Canada. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
5. "Redistribution of Federal Electoral Districts (effective after May 1, 2014)". Elections Canada. October 14, 2015. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
6. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (October 26, 2022). "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
7. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (October 27, 2021). "Census Profile, 2016 Census". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
8. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (November 27, 2015). "NHS Profile". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
9. "Registered Association Database : Search Electoral District Associations".
10. "Voter information service". Elections Canada. Retrieved April 18, 2025.
11. "Transposition of Votes from the 44th General Election to the 2023 Representation Orders". Elections Canada. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
12. "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
13. "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
14. "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
15. "October 19, 2015 Election Results — Yellowhead (Validated results)". Elections Canada. October 23, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
16. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates
17. Pundits' Guide to Canadian Elections

External links

• Elections Canada
• Website of the Parliament of Canada
• Federal Electoral District Redistribution report

Parliament of Canada
Preceded by Mount Royal	Constituency represented by the Prime Minister 1979	Succeeded by Mount Royal

53.3°N 116.4°W / 53.3; -116.4