Celina R. Caesar-Chavannes (born June 24, 1974) is a Canadian politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Whitby in the House of Commons of Canada from 2015 to 2019. Elected as a Liberal in the 2015 federal election,^[1] she later sat as an independent member. Caesar-Chavannes also unsuccessfully ran in the 2023 Toronto mayoral by-election, placing thirty-ninth out of 102 candidates.^[2]

As a member of the Liberal caucus, she was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister in December 2015^[3] and served in that role until January 26, 2017, when she became Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development.^[4] On August 31, 2018, Caesar-Chavannes returned to the backbenches after the Prime Minister decided to shuffle his parliamentary secretaries.^[5] On March 2, 2019, Caesar-Chavannes announced that she would not be seeking re-election in 2019^[6] and almost three weeks later, on March 20, the Prime Minister's Office announced that she had decided to resign from the Liberal caucus.^[7]

She graduated from New College at the University of Toronto, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in biology, followed by an online MBA in healthcare management from the University of Phoenix, and an executive MBA. She subsequently served on the University of Toronto's governing council, including time as vice chair of the council for the University of Toronto, Scarborough.^[8]

Caesar-Chavannes worked as an international research consultant, as well as a lecturer on the need to include marginalized populations in clinical research. She was named Business Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012 by the Toronto Region Board of Trade.^[9]

She was the Liberal candidate for the riding of Whitby—Oshawa in the 2014 by-election resulting from the sudden death of former Conservative Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. She finished second to Conservative candidate Pat Perkins.^[10]

In the general election held the following year, Caesar-Chavannes was again the Liberal nominee in the newly created Whitby riding, this time defeating Perkins in a rematch.^[11]

In 2021 Caesar-Chavannes published Can You Hear Me Now?, a book detailing her upbringing, journey as a young Black woman entrepreneur, former politician and the adversity that she overcame.^[20] Can You Hear Me Now? is a book about the journey of healing, finding your authentic voice and demonstrating that "effective and humane leaders grow as much from their mistakes and vulnerabilities as from their strengths."^[21] The book was nominated for the 2021 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.^[22]

Caesar-Chavannes is a contributor to the Canadaland podcast The Backbench.

In the 2019 federal election Liberal nominee Ryan Turnbull won election in Whitby, succeeding Caesar-Chavannes to the seat. In the 2021 federal election, Caesar-Chavannes endorsed Maleeha Shahid, the Conservative Party of Canada nominee in Whitby;^[23] Shahid placed second to Turnbull in that contest.

On April 4, 2023, Caesar-Chavannes officially registered to run for mayor of Toronto, an office that has been vacant following the resignation of former mayor John Tory.^[24] Caesar-Chavannes received 253 votes in the by-election.^[25]