Naheed Kurban Nenshi (born February 2, 1972) is a Canadian politician who has served as the leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) since 2024 and as leader of the Official Opposition since 2025. He previously served as the 36th mayor of Calgary for three terms from 2010 to 2021.
Nenshi attended the University of Calgary and earned degrees in commerce as well a Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Prior to entering politics, he worked as a management consultant as well as an instructor in non-profit management in the Bissett School of Business at Mount Royal University and wrote a regular municipal affairs column for the Calgary Herald.
Nenshi won the 2010 mayoral election with 39% of the vote. Being a Shia Ismaili, he became the first Muslim to become mayor of a major Canadian city. He was re-elected in 2013 with 74% of the vote and again re-elected in 2017 to a third term with 51% of the vote. After serving three terms as mayor, he did not seek re-election in the 2021 Calgary municipal election and was succeeded by Jyoti Gondek.
In March 2024, Nenshi announced he would run for leader of the Alberta NDP. He won on the first ballot with 86% support and 62,746 votes. He became a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in June 2025, winning the Edmonton-Strathcona by-election and assuming the title of leader of the Opposition.
Early life, education, and career Naheed Kurban Nenshi was born in Toronto, Ontario, and raised in Calgary and Red Deer County. His parents, Kurbanali Hussein, a small business owner, and Noorjah, were Ismaili Muslims of Indian Gujarati origin who immigrated to Canada from Tanzania in 1971. He has an older sister. Nenshi has persistent edema of rosacea.https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/23/opinion/naheed-nenshi-alberta-ndp-issues
Nenshi was educated at the University of Calgary, serving as president of the students' union and receiving a Bachelor of Commerce in 1993, and completed a Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1998. During his time at the University of Calgary, he was taught by former premier Peter Lougheed in the same political science class as Danielle Smith, who later became premier.
Nenshi worked for McKinsey & Company for several years before starting Ascend Group, his own consulting firm, which advised non-profit, private and public sector organizations. The firm also advised the United Nations on ways to encourage wealthy corporations to engage in Corporate Citizenship. As a young professional, he developed his administrative capabilities by joining Canada25, a federal networking organization that mentored professionals under 35 of public policy and leadership. Nenshi was a constant debate opponent of Toronto Sun journalist Ezra Levant; Levant later became a recurring critic of Nenshi's policies.
In 2002, Nenshi wrote about how cities can retain young professionals and use resources effectively in a publication entitled "Building Up: Making Canada's Cities Engines of Growth and Magnets of Development". In 2006, Nenshi was the chief author for "ImagineCalgary's 100-year plan".
Nenshi first ventured into politics in 2004, running unsuccessfully for a seat on Calgary's city council. He co-founded two citizens' groups aimed at improving Calgary's civic government. In 2009, Nenshi was invited to become a founding member of Civic Camp, an active citizenship forum that encourages and enables Calgarians to actively engage and collaborate ideas in civic affairs. He co-founded city hall watch dog group Better Calgary Campaign.
He was an instructor in non-profit management in the Bissett School of Business at Mount Royal University and wrote a regular municipal affairs column for the Calgary Herald.
Mayor of Calgary (2010–2021)
Elections
2010 election His 2010 campaign for mayor, dubbed the "Purple Revolution", was uniquely a viral campaign which relied heavily on using social media to promote his platform and hyper-engage voters. According to Nenshi's campaign IT specialist Richard Einarson, the name "Purple Revolution" was chosen because the campaign wanted broad appeal across the socio-economic spectrum of liberal ('red') and conservative ('blue') voters.
A late September poll showed that his campaign was generating interest as he sat third with eight per cent support, although well behind the leaders, alderman Ric McIver (42%) and local media personality Barb Higgins (28%). His growing popularity led to greater scrutiny of his views, including a public dispute with Calgary Police Service chief Rick Hanson over the cost of policing the city.
Days before the election, a Calgary Herald poll showed that Nenshi's grassroots campaign continued to gain momentum as he had 30 per cent support among decided voters, placing him in a statistical tie with McIver and Higgins. He polled the strongest amongst younger voters, believed to be the result of his social media campaign. Nenshi's surge in popularity carried through to the election, when he earned 40 per cent of the vote, finishing nearly 28,000 votes ahead of second-placed McIver.
On September 11, 2010, 20 of Nenshi's campaign advertisements in the city were vandalized or destroyed and a brick was thrown through one of his campaign office's windows. The attacks, which commemorated the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks in New York City, were accompanied by a series of racially antagonistic emails. They were therefore widely assumed to be racially motivated.
His win was viewed as a breakthrough for the use of social media as an election tool, and when considered with his faith and background, made international headlines. His election is seen as major signal of the shift in Albertan politics and the demography of Calgary. He engaged voters with a mutual two-way dialogue as "politics in full sentences".
2013 election
When Nenshi's re-election campaign began in earnest in September 2013, he revealed the donors of his campaign before the election and urged his opponents to do likewise. Nenshi promised to instigate changes to improve the transparency of City Hall's municipal affairs as one of his 2010 campaign statements.
For his campaign platform, Nenshi proposed to abolish the $4,800 granted to home builders, aiming to save the city $33 million per annum. According to Nenshi, the subsidy over a decade contributed to the municipal debt of $1.5 billion. Nenshi wanted free market factors to take hold of the housing market and developers to contribute to funding infrastructure to far-reaching suburbs by paying levies. The Manning Centre for Building Democracy supported the motion as supporting free market principles. The group however believed developers should pay slightly increased taxes as long as inner city communities equally also contribute their share of growth costs.
In October 2013, Nenshi and Councillors Andre Chabot and Gian-Carlo Carra proposed to realize a 2008 plan by then-Mayor Dave Bronconnier to redevelop International Avenue (17th Ave SE) as a vital transportation hub. The plan incorporates a C-train line and rapid bus lanes, proposed in Calgary Transit's 'Route Ahead' plan. As well, the revitalization incorporates urban renewal projects like renovated apartments and business buildings. Carra studied the circumstances for Forest Lawn's urban decay and planned the neighbourhood's restoration as his master thesis.
Riding off of a wave of popularity, Nenshi won re-election in a landslide victory; he was sworn in weeks later.
2017 election
During his first term, the length of council terms was extended from three years to four years. Nenshi indicated his intention to run for a 3rd term on November 4, 2016. On October 16, 2017, Nenshi won a third term winning over 50% of the vote, albeit with a smaller margin than his victory 4 years prior.
Tenure
Housing Early in 2013, Nenshi's council suspended relations with the Calgary branch of the Canadian Home Builders' Association. The CHBA as a result was banned briefly from attending planning sessions. This action was conducted after the Calgary branch president Charron Ungar commented that the city was enacting a policy of "suburban freeze". Ungar commented upon a city plan which scheduled two suburb developments within 10 years.
As part of his election campaign, Nenshi advocated to legalize "secondary housing" as a solution to the housing shortage. A proposed bylaw was intended to create standardized safety requirements for the estimated 10,000–40,000 secondary suites which exist in the city. As one of the last decisions of Nenshi's term in 2013, the city motioned to waive the $4,485 application fee for rezoning of secondary suites.
In 2013, a video was leaked of Cal Wenzel, the CEO and founder of Shane Homes, speaking to a panel of Calgarian home builders about a plan to influence the decisions of the city council after the election. In the video, Wenzel spoke of plans to raise $1.1 million to enlist the support of Preston Manning's conservative foundation, the Manning Centre for Building Democracy. According to the speech, former Mayor Dave Bronconnier counselled Wenzel on how to control council motions with eight votes. "So for whatever and however, we have to ensure that we end up with the eight votes." Wenzel proposed a solution to circumvent confrontation with Nenshi's popularity. Wenzel named councillors the industry could rely on to support motions in favour of the lobby, which he supported with donations. Nenshi ordered a probe into what he described as possible violations of electoral laws. In late 2013, Wenzel filed a $6 million slander lawsuit against Nenshi, stating that his reputation was tarnished and that he was vilified as a subject of political opportunism during Nenshi and his allied councillor's campaigning. Wenzel stated that his comments in the video were taken out of context and manipulated by Nenshi to promote a political agenda. He also complained of Nenshi tentatively comparing him to 'Godfather', as a reference to the titular character of Mario Puzo's novel and screenplay The Godfather. Nenshi in an interview with David Gray, host of CBC Radio's Calgary Eyeopener, described the meeting as a scene from the film The Godfather. When asked to clarify if Wenzel were the "Godfather" in this analogy, Nenshi ambiguously responded "maybe". The two reached an out-of-court settlement in December 2015, under which Nenshi agreed to apologize for and retract several comments he had made, while Wenzel expressed regret for any harm done to Nenshi's reputation and agreed that Nenshi has raised legitimate concerns about the potential chilling effect of lawsuits against politicians. Nenshi's legal bill of nearly $300,000 was paid by donations.
Infrastructure and services Soon after assuming office, Nenshi's council implemented many developments to revitalize Calgary's viability with capital infrastructure projects, such as the redevelopment of the East Village neighbourhood with the New Central Library and the National Music Centre. Funding for these projects were mainly drawn upon the Community Investment Fund, a fund created from tax revenue sources such as a $42 million annual refund from the provincial government.
The Nenshi administration completed capital public works projects approved by his predecessor Dave Bronconnier, including the westerly extension of the C-Train line, Peace Bridge, and the construction of a traffic tunnel to the Calgary International Airport. Although Nenshi's second-term council voted to end addition of fluoride to Calgary's drinking water, he supports water fluoridation.CBC. "Nenshi would vote to reintroduce fluoride in Calgary drinking water with public support", CBC, retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/nenshi-supports-return-of-fluoride-in-drinking-water-1.3459040, retrieved on April 29, 2017.