Jagrup Brar is one of the longest serving Surrey MLAs in the legislature, with a career stretching back to 2004. First elected for Surrey Panorama Ridge, he held the seat until 2013 and returned to Victoria in 2017 as the MLA for Surrey Fleetwood. He serves as Minister of Mining and Critical Minerals, appointed in November 2024, after an earlier turn as Minister of State for Trade. The portfolio covers mining and critical minerals, an industry that employs thousands of British Columbians well beyond the Lower Mainland.
His biography stands out. Born in India, he played for the Indian National Basketball team before coming to Canada, where he earned a master's degree in Philosophy and a master's in Public Administration. Before politics he spent more than a decade in the public and non-profit sectors, including as executive director of the Surrey Self Employment and Entrepreneur Development Society, where he trained new entrepreneurs to develop and launch small business ventures.
He has also carried opposition critic files for small business, healthy living and sport, employment and income assistance, and solicitor general and public safety, a breadth that shows in how he handles a ministry. The public safety critic file is one his Surrey colleague Garry Begg would later hold as a minister. He is known as an advocate for the most vulnerable and has taken the Welfare Challenge, living on welfare rates to show what poverty looks like in British Columbia. Over the years he has volunteered with local organizations serving young people, seniors, people experiencing homelessness and new Canadians.
He lives in Surrey with his wife Rajwant and their two children, Noor and Fateh, and his community office sits on Fraser Highway in the heart of Fleetwood. Alongside his fellow Surrey MLAs he has announced child care spaces, disaster preparedness funding and milestones at the 125-bed Guru Nanak Diversity Village long-term care home. He has also championed the Surrey Langley SkyTrain extension, marking its move toward major construction as demolitions began along the future line. For Fleetwood, having a cabinet minister as your MLA means a direct line into the rooms where provincial decisions get made.
Editor's note: the legislature was dissolved on September 22, 2026 and a provincial election was called for October 24, 2026. Offices above reflect the 43rd Parliament.
This profile is part of Apna News' Candidates series, introducing the people who represent Surrey and its neighbouring communities. Apna News is Surrey's new multilingual news platform. If you spot something to correct or add, reach us at info@apnanews.ca.
Official links: Government bio
