As Canada’s political leaders make their last bid for votes ahead of tomorrow’s election, the campaigns are focusing on immigrant communities –– and areas that have swung politically in the last election. Brampton, a suburb of Toronto, is both.

Liberal Party standard-bearer Justin Trudeau yesterday jumped off his campaign bus sporting a black varsity jacket with a maple leaf and “Canada” emblazoned on the back in large red letters. As a cold rain fell in the north-west Toronto suburb of Brampton, he pressed through a crowd and into a local cafe frequented by the area’s sizable Indian population.

Also, nearly lost in the throng were two Liberal parliamentary candidates who could be critical to Mr Trudeau’s quest to become the next prime minister of Canada –– Ramesh Sangha and Ruby Sahota.

Both are challenging incumbents in Brampton parliamentary races, a traditionally left-leaning area that was carried by the Conservative Party when Prime Minister Stephen Harper won a parliamentary majority in 2011.

According to the latest polls, Brampton –– and other immigrant-heavy outlying Toronto suburbs –– will be a key to victory in Monday’s general election.

The vote is shaping up as a showdown between the Liberals and Conservatives, after the left-leaning New Democratic Party slid to a clear third place in the recent weeks.