Filomena Tassi

The Honourable
Filomena Tassi
PC
The Honourable Filomena Tassi PC
	Tassi in 2019
Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
	In office; August 31, 2022 – December 20, 2024
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Helena Jaczek
Succeeded by	Ruby Sahota
Minister of Public Services and Procurement; Receiver General for Canada
	In office; October 26, 2021 – August 31, 2022
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Anita Anand
Succeeded by	Helena Jaczek
Minister of Labour
	In office; November 20, 2019 – October 26, 2021
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Patty Hajdu
Succeeded by	Seamus O'Regan
Minister of Seniors
	In office; July 18, 2018 – November 20, 2019
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Office re-established
Succeeded by	Deb Schulte
Deputy Government Whip
	In office; January 30, 2017 – August 31, 2018
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Ginette Petitpas Taylor
Succeeded by	Linda Lapointe
Member of Parliament; for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas
	In office; October 19, 2015 – March 23, 2025
Preceded by	David Sweet
Succeeded by	John-Paul Danko
Personal details
Born	1962 (age 62–63)[citation needed]; Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Residence	Dundas, Ontario
Alma mater	University of Waterloo; University of Western Ontario;
Profession	Attorney; chaplain;

Filomena Tassi PC is a Canadian politician who served as the Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario from 2022 to 2024. A member of the Liberal Party, Tassi represented the riding of Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas in the House of Commons, taking office following the 2015 federal election. She served as the Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Receiver General for Canada from 2021 to 2022, as the Minister of Labour from 2019 to 2021, and as the Minister of Seniors from 2018 to 2019. She did not seek re-election in 2025.

Education and early career

Tassi is of Italian descent, from the regions of Marche and Abruzzo, and was raised Catholic.^[2] She studied law at the University of Western Ontario, and then practised corporate law for six years. She subsequently left the legal profession and studied philosophy and religious education at the University of Waterloo, and began working as the chaplain at St. Mary Catholic Secondary School and Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary School, a job she held until her election to the House of Commons.^[3]

Political career

Tassi's first run for elective office was as a candidate for the Ontario Liberal Party in the 1995 provincial election, where she finished a narrow second to NDP incumbent David Christopherson. Two decades later, she became the federal Liberal candidate in Hamilton during the 2015 federal election. Her candidacy attracted some media controversy, as she had made statements in the past suggesting that her Roman Catholic faith made her personally opposed to abortion, which seemingly put her in conflict with Liberal leader Justin Trudeau's requirement that all candidates agree to vote in favour of abortion rights. Trudeau clarified that Tassi had agreed to support the legal right to abortion.^[4]

Prior to entering federal politics, Tassi was a Catholic school board trustee.^[5]

After previously serving as Deputy Government Whip, Tassi was appointed to cabinet as Minister of Seniors on July 18, 2018, becoming the first minister responsible for the portfolio since 2015.^[6] After being re-elected in 2019, Tassi was named Minister of Labour, a job she held for just under two years until she was named Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Receiver General for Canada in the cabinet shuffle held following the 2021 federal election.^[7] Tassi served in that job until August 31, 2022, when she was named Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, having requested to be moved to a portfolio with a lighter workload in order to deal with a family health matter.^[8]

Tassi did not seek re-election in the 2025 Canadian federal election.^[9] Liberal John-Paul Danko succeeded her as Member of Parliament for Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas.^[10]

Electoral record

Federal

v t e 2021 Canadian federal election: Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Filomena Tassi	27,845	44.3	-2.3	$96,671.26
	Conservative	Bert Laranjo	18,162	28.9	+2.2	$48,851.38
	New Democratic	Roberto Henriquez	12,432	19.8	+2.0	$17,974.69
	People's	Dean Woods	2,584	4.1	+2.7	$14,813.36
	Green	Victoria Galea	1,661	2.6	-4.8	7,901.50
	Rhinoceros	Spencer Rocchi	137	0.2	±0.0	$0.00
Total valid votes	62,821	99.4
Total rejected ballots	387	0.6
Turnout	63,208	71.2
Eligible voters	88,781
	Liberal hold	Swing	-2.8
Source: Elections Canada^[11]

v t e 2019 Canadian federal election: Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Filomena Tassi	30,214	46.55	-1.13	$77,474.77
	Conservative	Bert Laranjo	17,340	26.72	-5.11	none listed
	New Democratic	Yousaf Malik	11,527	17.76	+1.49	$35,360.66
	Green	Victoria Galea	4,770	7.35	+3.12	none listed
	People's	Daniel Ricottone	894	1.38	–	none listed
	Rhinoceros	Spencer Rocchi	156	0.24	–	$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit	64,901	99.36
Total rejected ballots	415	0.64	+0.20
Turnout	65,316	72.83	+0.29
Eligible voters	89,679
	Liberal hold	Swing	+1.99
Source: Elections Canada^[12]^[13]

2015 Canadian federal election: Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Filomena Tassi	29,694	47.68	+22.76	–
	Conservative	Vincent Samuel	19,821	31.83	-10.57	–
	New Democratic	Alex Johnstone	10,131	16.27	-11.92	–
	Green	Peter Ormond	2,633	4.23	+0.5	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit	62,279	100.0		$221,675.78
Total rejected ballots	272	–	–
Turnout	62,551	74.1%	–
Eligible voters	84,350
	Liberal notional gain from Conservative	Swing	+16.66%
Source: Elections Canada^[14]^[15]

Provincial

v t e 1995 Ontario general election: Hamilton Centre
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	David Christopherson	8,012	36.81	-18.49	$40,543.33
	Liberal	Filomena Tassi	7,322	33.64	+2.84	$34,483.85
	Progressive Conservative	Angie Tomasic	5,723	26.29	+17.99	$18,222.88
	Family Coalition	Tom Wigglesworth	376	1.72	+0.32	$1,548.28
	Natural Law	Monique Poudrette	331	1.53	–	$0.00
Total valid votes	21,764	100.0		–
Total rejected ballots	372	1.68	-0.04
Turnout	22,136	54.71	-5.07
Eligible voters	40,459
	New Democratic hold	Swing	-10.66

References

^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
^ "Filomena Tassi, "Italian Heritage Month" on May 15th, 2017 | openparliament.ca".
^ Meet Filomena Tassi, Liberal.ca.
^ Susana Mas, Justin Trudeau says Filomena Tassi agreed to vote pro-choice if elected in 2015, CBC News, November 28, 2014.
^ "Liberals pick up two Hamilton ridings, Marston defeated". CBC Hamilton, October 19, 2015.
^ Wright Allen, Samantha (July 25, 2018). "Rodriguez, Tassi staying as government whips for now, changes expected soon". The Hill Times. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
^ Bharti, Bianca (November 20, 2019). "Justin Trudeau's cabinet: Some new faces, some old faces, and some faces in new places | National Post". National Post. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
^ Zimonjic, Peter (August 31, 2022). "Trudeau tweaks cabinet, swapping ministers Tassi and Jaczek". CBC News. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
^ ""Hamilton Liberal MP Filomena Tassi won't run for re-election"". CBC News. October 17, 2024. Retrieved May 14, 2025.
^ Hewitt, Fallon (April 29, 2025). "John-Paul Danko wins Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas for Liberals". The Hamilton Spectator. ISSN 1189-9417. Retrieved May 14, 2025.
^ "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, 30 September 2015
^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived August 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine

External links

Cabinet posts (4)
29th Ministry – Cabinet of Justin Trudeau
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Helena Jaczek	Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario August 31, 2022 – present	Incumbent
Anita Anand	Minister of Public Services and Procurement October 26, 2021 – August 31, 2022	Helena Jaczek
Patty Hajdu	Minister of Labour November 20, 2019 – October 26, 2021	Seamus O'Regan
Alice Wong	Minister of Seniors July 18, 2018 – November 20, 2019	Deb Schulte

[1] "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved January 23, 2021.

[2] "Filomena Tassi, "Italian Heritage Month" on May 15th, 2017 | openparliament.ca".

[3] Meet Filomena Tassi, Liberal.ca.

[4] Susana Mas, Justin Trudeau says Filomena Tassi agreed to vote pro-choice if elected in 2015, CBC News, November 28, 2014.

[5] "Liberals pick up two Hamilton ridings, Marston defeated". CBC Hamilton, October 19, 2015.

[6] Wright Allen, Samantha (July 25, 2018). "Rodriguez, Tassi staying as government whips for now, changes expected soon". The Hill Times. Retrieved August 2, 2018.

[7] Bharti, Bianca (November 20, 2019). "Justin Trudeau's cabinet: Some new faces, some old faces, and some faces in new places | National Post". National Post. Retrieved November 20, 2019.

[8] Zimonjic, Peter (August 31, 2022). "Trudeau tweaks cabinet, swapping ministers Tassi and Jaczek". CBC News. Retrieved August 31, 2022.

[9] ""Hamilton Liberal MP Filomena Tassi won't run for re-election"". CBC News. October 17, 2024. Retrieved May 14, 2025.

[10] Hewitt, Fallon (April 29, 2025). "John-Paul Danko wins Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas for Liberals". The Hamilton Spectator. ISSN 1189-9417. Retrieved May 14, 2025.

[11] "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 2, 2021.

[12] "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.

[13] "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved August 7, 2021.

[14] Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, 30 September 2015

[15] Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived August 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine

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v t e Ministers of public works of Canada
Public works (1867–1996)	McDougall Langevin Mackenzie Tupper Langevin Smith Ouimet Desjardins Tarte Sutherland Hyman Pugsley Monk Rogers Ballantyne Carvell Reid (acting) Sifton Reid (acting) McCurdy Bostock King Perley Ryckman Elliott Stewart P. Cardin Michaud (acting) Fournier Harris (acting) Winters Green Walker Green (acting) Fulton Deschatelets L. Cardin McIlraith Laing Dubé Drury Buchanan Ouellet Nielsen Cosgrove LeBlanc Lapointe La Salle McInnes Jelinek (acting) MacKay Dick Dingwall Marleau¹
Public works and government services (1996–2015)	Marleau Gagliano Boudria Goodale Owen Brison Fortier Paradis Ambrose Finley
Public services and procurement (2015–present)	Foote Qualtrough Anand Tassi Jaczek Jean-Yves Duclos
¹As part of substantial governmental reorganization, the position was merged with that of the minister of supply and services to create the position of Minister of Public Works and Government Services on July 12, 1995.

v t e Ministers of labour of Canada
Labour (1900–96)	Mulock Aylesworth Lemieux¹ W. L. M. King Crothers Robertson Murdock J. H. King (acting) Elliott Manion (acting) Jones Heenan Robertson Gordon Rogers McLarty Mitchell Martin (acting) Gregg Starr MacEachen Nicholson Pépin Mackasey O'Connell Munro Ouellet (acting) O'Connell Alexander Regan Caccia Ouellet McKnight Cadieux Corbeil Danis Valcourt Axworthy Robillard
Human resources development (1996–2005)²	Young Pettigrew Stewart Frulla Dryden
Human resources and skills development (2005–13)	Stronach Finley Solberg Finley
Employment and social development (2013–15)	Kenney Poilievre
Families, children and social development (2015–present)	Duclos
Labour (1996–2015)	Robillard Gagliano MacAulay Bradshaw Fontana³ Blackburn Ambrose Raitt Leitch
Employment, workforce and labour (2015–2019)	Mihychuk Hajdu
Labour (2019–present)	Tassi O'Regan MacKinnon
¹Until 1909, the office of the minister of labour was a secondary function of the postmaster-general of Canada. W. L. M. King was the first to hold the office independently. ²The office of Minister of Employment and Immigration, and Minister of Labour were abolished and the office of Minister of Human Resources Development went in force on July 12, 1996. Under the new provisions, a minister of labour may be appointed. However, when no minister of labour is appointed, the minister of human resources development shall exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the minister of labour. ³Styled "Minister of Labour and Housing".