Meet Vijay Thanigasalam

Vijay has proudly served as the Member of Provincial Parliament for Scarborough – Rouge Park since 2018.

In his capacity as MPP, Vijay has been committed to materializing his vision of Scarborough being a place to live, work, and go to school.  He championed the government’s plan to redevelop and expand the Scarborough Health Network which will improve health care in Scarborough for generations to come.  

He strongly advocated for and played a key role in the establishment of the first-ever medical school in Scarborough, the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH) at UTSC. This is the largest expansion of an undergraduate and postgraduate medical school in Toronto since 1843.  

Vijay has been instrumental in the building of the Scarborough Subway Extension after 30 years of inaction to reduce the long commute for the residents of Scarborough.  

He also secured the funding for the building of a brand new state-of the art community center in the riding.  

It was also a true honour for him to introduce and successfully pass his first Private Member’s Bill, Tamil Genocide Education Week Act.

Vijay immigrated to Canada at the tender age of 14 after surviving the brutal genocide in Sri Lanka. He started high school in Scarborough while working multiple part-time jobs. 

Despite his busy schedule, he immersed himself in community volunteer work to fulfill his sense of duty to give back. 

Vijay has earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and went on to work at one of the top two financial institutions in Toronto. He later completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University.

Vijay was first elected as the Member of Provincial Parliament for Scarborough – Rouge Park in 2018 and was re-elected again in 2022. He currently serves as the Associate Minister of Housing and is the first Tamil Canadian to be appointed a Minister in Ontario.

Vijay looks forward to continuing his work of building Scarborough for the future!