Linda Burney Labor Sophie Cotsis Labor A by-election for the seat of Canterbury in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly was held on 12 November 2016.

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Labor MP and former interim Labor leader Linda Burney on 6 May to contest the division of Barton at the 2016 federal election.

In its second incarnation from 1927, the electoral district of Canterbury has been held by the Labor Party, excepting between 1932 and 1935 when Edward Hocking held the seat for the United Australia Party following the Lang dismissal crisis.

[1] In March, the NSW branch of the Labor Party referred the preselection decisions for the federal seats of Barton and Hunter, and Canterbury, to the party's national executive.

[2] Sophie Cotsis, a member of the Legislative Council since 2010, was preselected.