: ''For other people with a similar name, see Pedro da Fonseca (disambiguation)'' Peter Fonseca (born 5 October 1966) is a Portuguese-born Canadian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and former

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

. He is a Liberal member of the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

, representing the riding of Mississauga East—Cooksville since his election in 2015. Prior to entering federal politics, Fonseca was a provincial Liberal member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

representing Mississauga East (2003-2007) and Mississauga East—Cooksville (2007- 2011). He was a cabinet minister in the government of Dalton McGuinty. Fonseca was re-elected in his safe Liberal riding of Mississauga East—Cooksville with roughly 53% of the vote in the 2019 federal election and again with 50% of the vote in the 2021 federal election. In the 44th parliament which was formed after the 2021 federal election (where the governing Liberals were re-elected with an increased minority), Fonseca was selected as the chair of the powerful Finance Committee.

Background

Fonseca was born in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and immigrated to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

with his family in 1968. He was raised in Little Portugal. He graduated from St. Michael's College School and attended the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

, gaining a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

on an athletic scholarship. He also holds a Bachelor of Education degree from the

University of Windsor The University of Windsor (UWindsor, U of W, or UWin) is a public university, public research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has approximately 17,500 students. The university was incorporated by ...

. He worked as a senior performance management consultant for the Coach Corporation and has run an importing and distributing company in Portugal. He married his wife Christine "Chris" Fonseca in 2003. Christine was elected to

Mississauga City Council Mississauga City Council is the governing body of the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The council consists of the mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as ...

as Councillor for Ward 3 in the 2010 Mississauga municipal election and re-elected in 2014 Mississauga municipal election, 2018 Mississauga municipal election, and 2022 Mississauga municipal election. Fonseca holds Dual-citizenship with Portugal.

Athletic career

He finished 5th in the 10,000 metres at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, between 18 and 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, box ...

. He also represented Canada at the

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in the Men's Marathon. He was the top finisher for the Canadians, placing 21st overall in a race with a time of 2 hours, 17 minutes and 28 seconds. He also placed second in the 1994

Toronto Marathon The Toronto Marathon, held annually on the first Sunday of May, is a race from Yonge and Sheppard, in the north end of Toronto, to Exhibition Place, via Humber Bay Park. The origins of the event trace back to 1977, and the race was initially cal ...

and the 1994

Houston Marathon The Houston Marathon is an annual marathon usually held every January in Houston, Texas, United States, since 1972. With thousands of runners and spectators, it is the largest single day sporting event in the city. It is run concurrently wit ...

, and third in the 1992

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fini ...

and the 1990

Los Angeles Marathon The Los Angeles Marathon (formerly known as the City of Los Angeles Marathon) is an annual running event typically held each spring in Los Angeles, California, since 1986. The marathon was inspired by the success of the 1984 Summer Olympic Ga ...

Politics

Provincial

Fonseca was elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 2003, defeating incumbent Progressive Conservative

Carl DeFaria Carl DeFaria (born ) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003 and was a cabinet minister in the government of Ernie Eves. Background DeFaria has a Bac ...

by about 3,000 votes in Mississauga East. On 23 October 2003, he was named

parliamentary assistant In British politics and some Commonwealth nations, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan staff member employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work ...

George Smitherman George Smitherman (born February 12, 1964) is a former Canadian politician and broadcaster. He represented the provincial riding of Toronto Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2010, when he resigned to contest the mayor ...

, the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. In July 2005, he became the

to Jim Watson, the Minister of Health Promotion. In October 2007, Fonseca was named to

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

as Minister of Tourism and Recreation. In a cabinet shuffle on 18 September 2008, Fonseca was appointed as the province's

Minister of Labour Minister of labour (in British English) or labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

Federal

On 16 December 2010, Fonseca resigned from the Ontario cabinet to run for the federal Liberals in the riding of Mississauga East—Cooksville. He was defeated by

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

candidate

Wladyslaw Lizon Wladyslaw Lizon (; born June 27, 1954) is a Polish Canadian politician. He was a Conservative member of the House of Commons of Canada from 2011 to 2015 who represented the Greater Toronto Area riding of Mississauga East—Cooksville. He was th ...

in the 2011 federal election by 676 votes. Fonseca ran for the Liberals again in the 2015 federal election and defeated Lizon by a wide margin as part of the Liberal sweep of Mississauga ridings. Fonseca was re-elected in the 2019 and 2021 elections. Fonseca's constituency office was on fire, on 22 February 2022. Peel Regional Police is investigating the matter as arson.

Electoral record

Federal

Provincial

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fonseca, Peter 1966 births Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Track and field athletes from Mississauga Canadian male long-distance runners Canadian male marathon runners Canadian sportsperson-politicians Commonwealth Games competitors for Canada Liberal Party of Canada MPs Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Naturalized citizens of Canada Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Olympic track and field athletes for Canada Oregon Ducks men's track and field athletes Politicians from Mississauga Portuguese emigrants to Canada Athletes from Lisbon University of Windsor alumni 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario 20th-century Canadian sportsmen