Michael Chan was elected to the Ontario legislature in a by-election in 2007 and re-elected in a general election later that year. He previously served as Minister of Revenue. Before joining government, Chan owned his own insurance brokerage in Markham — with 30 employees and hundreds of agents.

He is a member of the Markham Board of Trade and the Canadian Chinese Insurance Professionals Association. He is honorary president of the Toronto Chinese Senior Health and Recreation Association and sat on the advisory council for the Ontario Medal for Police Bravery and the Toronto Ngun Lam Athletic Association. He has also been an active participant in annual food drives in support of the Markham Food Bank.

Chan is originally from Hong Kong. He and his wife, Elaine, have two sons, Alex and Brian.