meet Ted Hsu

Ted Hsu (pronounced “shoe”) is the Member of Provincial Parliament for Kingston and the Islands and serves as the Ontario Liberal critic for Energy, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry, and Agriculture and Rural Issues. With a background in science, finance, and public service, Ted brings a thoughtful, long-term approach to tackling the challenges facing Ontario today.

Ted immigrated to Canada with his parents when he was just six months old and grew up in Kingston, graduating from Queen’s University in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science. He went on to earn a PhD in physics from Princeton University and spent a decade applying his math and computing skills in international finance, working in senior roles at Banque Nationale de Paris and Morgan Stanley in Tokyo.

Returning to Canada, Ted became Executive Director of SWITCH, a sustainable energy association in southeastern Ontario, from 2007 to 2011. He was then elected as the federal Member of Parliament for Kingston and the Islands, serving from 2011 to 2015. During his time in office, he led the national campaign to restore the long-form census, a vital tool for public health, poverty reduction, and evidence-based policy making. The first act of the newly elected government in 2015 was to restore the long-form census. Ted was also recognized by Maclean’s in 2013 as the MP who “Best Represents Constituents.”

After choosing not to run for re-election in 2015, Ted stayed active in his community coaching robotics teams, mentoring young leaders, working with local startups, and managing election campaigns. In 2019, he co-chaired the City of Kingston’s Mayor’s Task Force on Housing, helping to produce a set of recommendations to increase housing supply and affordability.

Ted was elected to the Ontario Legislature in 2022. In 2023, he ran for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party to try to bring his vision for Ontario and his style of doing politics to the party. While he did not become the leader, he plans to be a leader on the Ontario Liberal team. He is focused on addressing critical issues such as the rising cost of living, housing affordability, healthcare capacity, education disruption, and climate change. He believes in fixing systems not just responding to daily headlines and is committed to building a more sustainable, inclusive, and productive Ontario.