Monica Ciriello


Monica Ciriello is a Canadian politician, currently serving as the MPP for Hamilton Mountain in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. She was elected in the 2025 Ontario general election as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party.

Early life, education and early career

Ciriello was born in London, Ontario. Her father, Dr. John Ciriello, was a professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at Western University.
Ciriello earned a BA in Political Science from Western and a MA in the same field from the University of Windsor and a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Michigan. During her studies, Ciriello was active with campus Conservative organizations.
While studying law in the United States, Ciriello met her future husband, Greg. Ciriello credits her spouse with inspiring her to focus on municipal planning law.
After returning to Canada, Ciriello worked as a solicitor for the City of Windsor and, later, for the City of Hamilton. In 2018, she entered the private sector before returning to the City of Hamilton as Director of Municipal Law and Licencing in 2019.
Ciriello has previously worked with the conservative think-tank, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and participated in podcasts for the local affairs magazine Municipal World.

Political career

Ciriello stood as the Conservative Party's candidate in Hamilton Centre in 2019. During the campaign, Ciriello campaigned against federal carbon pricing and gun control, and as "pro-pipeline" and tough-on-crime. Ciriello was critiqued during the campaign for living outside of the riding. She placed third with just over 14% of the vote.
Ciriello was named as the Ontario Progressive Conservative candidate on Hamilton Mountain just prior to the snap 2025 provincial election. Like most Ontario PC candidates, Ciriello did not participate in local debates during the campaign. Her campaign told the Hamilton Spectator that she was not aware of the all-candidates debate hosted by local media.
On election night, Ciriello captured just over 36% of the vote, beating her nearest rival, school trustee Dawn Danko of the Ontario Liberals by 2,000 votes. In winning, Ciriello became the first PC candidate to win the seat since Trevor Pettit, who held it from 1995 to 1999 during the government of Mike Harris.
In 2025 she was appointed as the Parliamentary Assistant to the Attorney General by Doug Ford.