Justin Trudeau’s nine years as Canada’s prime minister are coming to an end after he announced he would step down as leader of the ruling Liberal Party, leaving his party to find a new leader to contest a general election that opinion polls suggest it will lose.
1. Former Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland
The Toronto MP has been one of Trudeau’s most high-profile cabinet members and was seen as a leading candidate to replace the outgoing leader, according to the BBC. While she was long regarded as a trusted senior official in his inner circle, a rift with the prime minister’s office led to her abrupt resignation in December. Her criticism of Trudeau in her public resignation letter added to the pressure and made her departure seem inevitable.
Born to a Ukrainian mother in the western province of Alberta, the 56-year-old was a journalist before entering politics. She entered the House of Commons in 2013 and, two years later, joined Trudeau’s cabinet as trade minister after he brought the party to power.
As foreign minister, she helped Canada renegotiate free trade deals with the US and Mexico. She was later appointed deputy prime minister and finance minister—the first woman to hold the post—and oversaw Canada’s financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In stepping down last month, she criticized Trudeau for not being strong enough in dealing with Donald Trump’s threats to impose US tariffs on Canadian goods. A 2019 Globe and Mail profile described Freeland as, depending on who you ask, either the last and best hope for the liberal world order or an insensitive idealist.
Her steadfast support for Ukraine has drawn praise in some quarters, but the Harvard-educated lawmaker has also faced criticism, including from Trump, who recently called her “toxic.”
2. Former Central Banker Mark Carney
Trudeau himself has acknowledged that he has long tried to recruit Mark Carney to his team, most recently as finance minister. “He would be a fantastic addition at a time when Canadians need good people to move forward in politics,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a NATO conference in July 2024, according to the BBC.
Carney, 59, who has served in recent months as a special adviser to Trudeau, has long been considered a contender for the top job. The Harvard graduate has never held public office but has a strong economic background, having served at the helm of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.
He also brings expertise on environmental issues from his role as the United Nations special envoy for climate action, recently calling the goal of net-zero emissions “the greatest commercial opportunity of our time.”
Carney supports several Liberal policies that are unpopular among the country’s conservatives, such as the federal carbon tax, the party’s signature climate policy that critics argue is a financial burden on Canadians.
