Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister, along with his cabinet, in the presence of Governor General Mary Simon at a ceremony at Rideau Hall on March 14.
Carney, a former governor of the central banks of Canada and England, was appointed to the highest office by virtue of his win in the Liberal leadership race, which concluded on March 9.
Carney hence became the first prime minister in Canadian history to be appointed to the role without ever having held elected office.
There is an expectation the new prime minister could ask Simon to dissolve Parliament in the coming days to launch an election. Carney will want to win a House of Commons seat and could seek to obtain a stronger mandate from the electorate during a period of turbulence caused by U.S. tariffs.
Before Carney’s appointment, Justin Trudeau handed over his resignation to the governor general, closing the chapter on his over nine years in power. In a farewell video posted to social media, Trudeau said he will always be “boldly and unapologetically Canadian.”
Trudeau announced his planned departure in early January, triggering the leadership race amid U.S. tariff threats. The Liberal Party has since climbed back in the polls, closing the gap with the Conservative Party, which had enjoyed a 20-point lead prior to Trudeau’s resignation announcement.
Carney campaigned in the leadership race as a political outsider, and said his broad experience would help him steer the country through the trade conflict with the United States. Carney was governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 financial crisis, and then occupied the same role at the Bank of England during the United Kingdom’s exit of the European Union.
The Oxford-educated economist, who was serving on multiple corporate boards before entering politics, bested two former Trudeau cabinet ministers in the leadership race and one former Liberal MP.
Chrystia Freeland, the former deputy prime minister and a longtime friend of Carney, was given a seat in the cabinet as minister of transport and internal trade. She previously served in the roles of finance minister and foreign affairs minister.
Meanwhile, Karina Gould, who was most recently the Government House Leader, was left out of Carney’s leaner cabinet, which is composed of 24 ministers compared to Trudeau’s 37.
Many of Trudeau’s ministers had indicated in previous weeks they would not be seeking re-election. The latest to make the announcement was Health Minister Mark Holland on March 13. Holland had backed Freeland in the leadership race. Kamal Khera replaces Holland as health minister.
Anita Anand had previously said she was leaving politics but changed her mind during the leadership race, saying Carney and “thousands of Canadians” had asked her to stay on to help navigate U.S. trade tensions. She was appointed as industry minister.
Other senior ministers not returning to cabinet include Marc Miller, who was at immigration, and Jean-Yves Duclos, who was Trudeau’s Quebec lieutenant and served as procurement minister. Miller is a longtime and close friend of Trudeau, who took over his latest role as Canadian attitudes were souring on the country’s high immigration rates due to the related strain on housing and services.
Replacing Duclos as Quebec lieutenant is Steven Guilbeault, who remains in cabinet while being moved out of the environment file. Guilbeault becomes minister of Canadian culture and identity, similar to his previous role with the Heritage Canada portfolio.
Guilbeault, a former Greenpeace activist, has been a strong proponent of the consumer carbon tax, which Carney has pledged to remove, saying he would compensate by making “big polluters” in industry pay more. Guilbeault nonetheless backed Carney in the leadership race, saying the two share the same vision around climate change.
Carney has advocated for transitioning the economy away from hydrocarbons and led non-government initiatives to have major businesses link their financial decisions to lowering carbon output. The initiative for financial institutions started unravelling after Trump’s electoral victory in November 2024, and now all major Canadian banks have abandoned it.
Other key appointments include Gary Anandasangaree, who was on the Crown-Indigenous portfolio, replacing Arif Virani as justice minister and attorney general. Virani had backed Freeland in the race and previously said he would not run in the next election.
A number of ministers with key roles in dealing with the United States have kept their positions, such Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Public Safety Minister David McGuinty, and Defence Minister Bill Blair.
François-Philippe Champagne kept a prominent role in cabinet by being appointed finance minister, replacing Dominic LeBlanc. LeBlanc was appointed to oversee international trade and intergovernmental affairs.
LeBlanc and Champagne, along with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, were in Washington on March 13 to have a meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on the tariff dispute between the countries.
When asked by reporters whether Carney replacing Trudeau as prime minister would change the dynamic between Canada and the United States, LeBlanc and Champagne didn’t provide clarity.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Trudeau have exchanged sharp words in recent weeks, with Trump repeatedly calling Trudeau a “governor” along with his comments about making Canada the “51st state.” Meanwhile, Trudeau addressed the president as “Donald” during a press conference and said his tariff plan was a “very dumb thing to do.”
Carney also used strong words to discuss Trump during his campaign and victory speech, but he struck a more conciliatory tone this week.
