The GTA's toss-up ridings could tell the story of the election

The Greater Toronto Area is once again set to play an outsized role in determining who will form the next federal government.

According to the most recent polling data, races in nine GTA ridings are toss-ups — eight of them in the critical 905, where Conservatives and Liberals are finding themselves in a dead heat.  Those tight races matter because the region, which sends more MP's to Ottawa than Manitoba and Saskatchewan combined, is "a critical part of any winning formula for any of the parties," says political strategist Jaskaran Sandhu.  "The density and the population obviously plays a significant impact on the seat counts that you need to form government," he told CBC Toronto. One week out from the election, polling in ridings like Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill, Oakville, and Whitby show Conservative and Liberal candidates nearly deadlocked. The polling data is collected by 338Canada.com, an election projection website. The importance of tipping the scales in those races isn't lost on Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, who has visited seven of the nine toss-up ridings since the election campaign began.