Runner-up Doug Ottenbreit might not have won the riding, but with his party gaining official opposition status with 102 seats the NDP saw some of the biggest gains this time around.
With Layton leading the opposition, Ottenbreit believes that the next four years will be about keeping the Conservative Party honest.
"[Layton] will ensure that Mr. Harper lives up to the commitments he made in this election," Ottenbreit says.
Over the next four years, Ottenbreit believes that the NDP will be in a position to gain traction with voters and make more gains.
"People will see Jack Layton as being a reasonable man. People in this country will have an opportunity to see our policies as reasonable...
"Canadians had a clear choice and in four years they will have an even clearer choice. After four years of showing we are competent and capable of running the country, people may just give us the opportunity to do that," he says.
On the subject of the NDP's gains federally, Ottenbreit believes that there is only one explanation for the big surge in support.
"Layton was talking about issues that are important to Canadians, he is from Quebec and the people there have realized it was time to abandon the Bloc and embrace our version of federalism, and I think this is only the beginning for New Democrats in the country," he says.
While he didn't win the seat, Ottenbreit is proud of the campaign he ran, and is optimistic about the future of the party - both federally and in this riding. He hopes to have another opportunity to run four years down the road.
