Amarjeet Sohi

Amarjeet Sohi (born March 8, 1964) is a Canadian politician who was the minister of infrastructure and communities, and from 2018 to 2019 as the minister of natural resources. Sohi previously sat as a Liberal member of Parliament (MP) and served in the federal Cabinet from 2015 to 2018. He served as the 36th mayor of Edmonton from 2021 to 2025.

Sohi was born in India and immigrated to Canada in 1981, initially working as a taxi driver in Edmonton. He returned to India in 1988, where he was detained and accused of terrorism. While in prison, he was subject to harsh treatment and solitary confinement. After spending 21 months in prison, Sohi was released due to a lack of evidence. Returning to Edmonton, he worked as a bus driver before entering politics.

Sohi was elected to the Edmonton City Council in the 2007 municipal election representing Ward 12, gaining his seat after finishing 4th place in the previous election. Following the 2015 federal election, he represented Edmonton Mill Woods in the House of Commons until his defeat in the 2019 election. During that time, he served as minister of natural resources from 2018 to 2019 and minister of infrastructure and communities from 2015 to 2018.

After his federal defeat, Sohi announced his candidacy for mayor of Edmonton in the 2021 Edmonton municipal election. He was elected as Edmonton's 36th mayor on October 18, 2021, becoming the first visible minority to serve as mayor. Jyoti Gondek was elected mayor of Calgary on the same day, with both Sohi and Gondek jointly sharing status as Canada's first Punjabi mayors of major cities.

In 2025, he announced a return to federal politics, saying that he would run as the Liberal candidate in Edmonton Southeast; he was defeated by Conservative candidate Jagsharan Singh Mahal. Following his loss, Sohi announced that he would not seek re-election as mayor in the 2025 municipal election.

Early life Sohi was born in 1964 in the farming community of Banbhaura, Sangrur district in the Indian state of Punjab, to a Sikh family. Sponsored by an elder brother, he emigrated to Edmonton in 1981. Initially speaking almost no English, Sohi took ESL classes and enrolled at Bonnie Doon Composite High School in Edmonton. While working as a taxi driver in Edmonton, he joined a local Punjabi language literary society and became an actor and playwright in a Punjabi theatre group.

Detention in India

Background By the early 1980s, the Khalistan movement, led by Sikhs demanding a homeland for themselves within India, had become very active, attracting support from many of the Indian Sikh diaspora in Canada. The movement soon developed into the Punjab insurgency, which polarised the Sikh community in Canada between Khalistani separatists and those supporting continued union with India. The agitation of the Sikhs in general further increased following the Indian Army's 1984 assault on the Harmandar Sahib complex and Akaal Takht, and the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards later that year. This was followed by the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, which was linked to Canadian Khalistani militants. He soon joined an activist group advocating land reform in Bihar, one of India's poorest states. That November, Sohi went to a village in Bihar to organize a local protest, but was arrested on November 15, the night before when police raided the village. Sohi believed he was arrested due to his Sikh and Canadian background, which was linked with terrorism. When he told his story to a district magistrate who had arrived to question him, she believed him and stopped the interrogations, permitting him to present his case in court though he was denied legal counsel.

Return to Edmonton and entry into municipal politics After returning to Edmonton, Sohi returned to being a taxi driver, before moving on to become a bus driver for the Edmonton Transit Service. Sohi also became active in politics, campaigning for the New Democratic Party and for then Liberal MP David Kilgour. Sohi's second campaign in the 2007 elections was successful, winning a Council seat in Ward 6. On the City Council, Sohi has served as a member of the Edmonton Police Commission, as vice president of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, and as Council sponsor for Safedmonton, a citywide committee working on community solutions for crime prevention. Sohi carried this work forward as advisor to the REACH Edmonton Council for Safe Communities.

Sohi also held the council portfolio for Multiculturalism, and has championed the Racism Free Edmonton initiative. He has sponsored or co-sponsored council initiatives on Seniors and on Poverty Elimination, and co-launched an initiative to end gender-based violence.

Awards Sohi received several community awards during time on city council. In 2014, he received the John Humphrey Centre's Randy Palivoda Public Service Award. The following year, he received the Interfaith Advocate Award from the Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education and Action for his work in promoting interfaith dialogue. Sohi was also awarded the Man of Honour, Exemplary Leadership Award from the Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation in recognition of his work to end gender discrimination and violence and the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers Recognizing Immigrant Success in Edmonton (RISE) Lifetime Achievement award in 2015.

Federal politics

In January 2015, Sohi was approached by the federal Liberal Party to run as a Member of Parliament in the newly created riding of Edmonton Mill Woods. He felt the need to bring up his imprisonment before it could be used against him politically, and thus contacted the Edmonton Journal reporter Paula Simons, who agreed to help report the story. Sohi's campaign emphasized the importance of federal leadership to address big-city and infrastructure challenges. Sohi was also sharply critical of the Harper government's approach to citizenship, multiculturalism, and immigration policy.

The nomination contest in Edmonton Mill Woods was the subject of a minor controversy prior to Sohi's acclamation. Varinder Bhullar was disqualified following alleged violations of Liberal Party membership rules. Bhullar claimed the party disqualified him after he refused to step aside in favor of Sohi, the party's preferred candidate. Conservative candidate Tim Uppal successfully argued for a judicial recount of the results. The recount was held on October 29 and increased Sohi's margin of victory to 92 votes. After being elected as MP, Sohi was criticized for accepting a severance package from the City of Edmonton. He defended the move, saying that he did not determine the amount, which was based on his years of service with Edmonton City Council.

Minister of Infrastructure and Communities

Sohi took on the Infrastructure and Communities portfolio in Justin Trudeau's first Cabinet on November 4, 2015.

Minister of Natural Resources

Sohi took over the Natural Resources profile from Jim Carr on July 18, 2018.

In the 2019 election, Sohi was defeated by Tim Uppal.

Mayor of Edmonton In May 2021, Sohi announced his candidacy for mayor of Edmonton in the 2021 Edmonton municipal election.

Defamation case In October 2024, it was announced that Sohi was suing three Alberta residents—Varinder Bhullar, Bob Rai, and Abdusselam Huzeyfe Bezirgan—for defamation, accusing them of spreading false claims about his involvement in corruption. Bezirgan, posing as a journalist, launched a video series in 2024 alleging that Sohi unlawfully used his political influence to benefit a relative in a Regina infrastructure project, with Rai as his source.

Electoral record