Meet Dr. Aly Abdulla
Your OCDSB Trustee
Candidate for Zone 1
Let's find solutions — together.
Meet Dr. Alykhan Abdulla. A dedicated family physician, board governance expert, and local parent of five, Trustee Candidate Abdulla knows that a healthy community starts with a strong and safe public education system.
For the last 32 years, long-time Trustee Lynn Scott has served the community with careful governance and a deep commitment to public school students in Ottawa.
As she steps down, Trustee Candidate Abdulla is stepping forward to bring experienced leadership, financial accountability, and deep-rooted public service to the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB).
Our K-12 classrooms are facing real challenges — from student mental health pressures and crowded school spaces to complex school board budgets and provincial oversight.
But these challenges have solutions. Trustee Candidate Abdulla doesn’t just spot problems — he builds bridges and prescribes actionable results. He understands the modern pressures facing parents, and he knows that we must work together to improve the OCDSB's delivery of quality education.
Vote for Dr. Aly Abdulla on October 26.
Let’s find solutions — together.
Trustee Candidate Abdulla is a well-known and trusted leader in Ottawa with a calm and level-headed approach to public health — including education. His experience will allow the OCDSB to seamlessly continue to receive and respond to the concerns of all members of our OCDSB school and greater community, to ensure the needs of our students are met with compassion and care.
My Vision as OCDSB Trustee Candidate
"Our schools work best when students feel safe, supported and inspired to learn, and when teachers and staff feel respected, valued and equipped to do their jobs well. As Trustee, I would listen before acting, bring parents, students, educators, administrators and community partners to the same table, and focus on what we can accomplish together rather than what divides us. I believe good governance is about turning difficult challenges into shared opportunities — using evidence, fiscal responsibility and common sense to strengthen learning, support our people and rebuild confidence in public education."
"My vision for Zone 1 is simple:
restore trust, put student and staff well-being at the centre of every decision, and bring people together to find practical solutions."
Restoring Trust
The OCDSB must focus on building back transparent, sustainable financial oversight to emerge stronger from provincial supervision. Trustee Candidate Abdulla will bring his rigorous corporate governance background to ensure tax dollars are spent where they matter most: inside the classroom.
Student & Staff
Well-Being
As a physician, Trustee Candidate Abdulla treats the mental health crisis daily. He is committed to expanding mental health resources, fostering safe learning environments, and supporting the physical well-being of both students and staff.
Collaboration
Following Trustee Lynn Scott’s legacy means ensuring that the diverse voices of West Carleton-March, Stittsville and Rideau-Jock are never overshadowed.
Trustee Candidate Abdulla is a proven bridge-builder who will advocate relentlessly for local families.
About Dr. Alykhan Abdulla
Trustee Candidate Abdulla is a prominent Canadian family physician, medical educator, health policy advocate, and community leader based in Manotick, Ontario. For over three decades, he has practiced comprehensive family medicine while simultaneously holding major leadership positions in provincial and national healthcare organizations. He is widely recognized for his extensive media advocacy concerning the Canadian family medicine crisis and healthcare system reform. He even makes house calls for the most vulnerable in our community.
Raised in a household that highly valued public service and education — by a father who was an architect and a mother who was a teacher — Dr. Abdulla brings a focus on authenticity, accountability, and action to his leadership. He is a prolific writer and commentator, having contributed nearly 1,000 articles, op-eds, and broadcasts across prominent Canadian media platforms like CBC, The Globe and Mail, and the Ottawa Citizen. He uses his platform to bridge the gap between complex health system policies and real-world clinical practice.
He and his wife, Tia, are the proud parents of five children raised in Ottawa and Toronto. Outside of his clinical and advocacy work, he can be found playing pickleball, skiing with his family, or staying active in the community.
Experience
Trustee Candidate Abdulla isn’t just a community doctor — he is a highly decorated organizational leader. He knows how to manage multi-million dollar budgets, build collaborative consensus, and steer complex public institutions through challenges.
In addition to his medical practice, Dr. Abdulla has taught, coached, and mentored internationally trained doctors, medical students and family medicine residents for more than 30 years as an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa. He is the Director of the Leadership Curriculum at the University of Ottawa Undergraduate Medicine. He is the author of more than 1000 publications and has conducted more than 550 media interviews (radio, TV, podcasts, and print).
Dr. Abdulla has more than 25 years of leadership experience, building collaborations as Chair of the Section of General and Family Practice, Chair of the General Assembly, Chair of OMA District 8, Chair of Audit and Finance in the Ontario Medical Association (OMA); President of the Ottawa Academy of Medicine and Medical Director for The Kingsway Health Centre, among others.
He is or has sat on various not-for-profit boards including the Bruyere Health, Bruyere Foundation, Beechwood Cemetery/Foundation, Ontario Medical Foundation, The Rideau Club, Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation, Eastern Ontario Regional Lab Association, Ontario Medical Association, Canadian Medical Association Finance and Audit, Carleton University Refugee Integration, Canada Games Council Finance and Audit, Equipe Sante Ottawa Ontario Health Team, and Shepherds of Good Hope.
He is honoured to have been awarded the Outstanding Family Physician of Eastern Ontario and Award of Excellence from the Canadian College of Family Physicians, Advocate for Students and Residents from the OMA, Professionalism Award from The University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Service Medal, King Charles III Coronation Medal for Public Service and the Top 40 Under Forty from the Ottawa Business Journal.
Zone 1 Map
Ward 5 (West Carleton-March)
Ward 6 (Stittsville)
Ward 21 (Rideau-Jock)
Schools
A. Lorne Cassidy Elementary School (JK–6)
Huntley Centennial Public School (JK–8)
Frederick Banting Secondary Alternate (10–12)
Goulbourn Middle School (6–8)
Kars on the Rideau Public School (JK–8)
Manotick Public School (JK–5)
Maplewood Secondary School (Grades 7–11)
North Gower/Marlborough Public School (JK–5)
Richmond Public School (JK–5)
Shingwàkons Public School (JK–6)
South Carleton High School (9–12)
Stittsville Public School (JK–6)
Stonecrest Elementary School (JK–8)
West Carleton Secondary School (9-12)
Westwind Public School (JK–6)
