OTTAWA – Justin Trudeau visited Gov. Gen. Mary Simon this morning to formally resign as prime minister, paving the way for Mark Carney to become Canada’s 24th prime minister.
A swearing-in ceremony is set for 11 a.m. at Rideau Hall, where Carney will also reveal his first cabinet.
His cabinet is expected to be smaller than Trudeau’s 37-member team and almost certainly will be in place when a general election is launched.
Liberal MPs began arriving at Rideau Hall shortly after 10 a.m., including Ontario MP Arielle Kayabaga and Nova Scotia MP Kody Blois, who were not in Trudeau’s cabinet.
Trudeau ministers Steven MacKinnon, Patty Hajdu, Jonathan Wilkinson, Steven Guilbeault, Joanne Thompson, Nate Erskine-Smith and Anita Anand were also spotted heading into the governor general’s residence.
Chrystia Freeland, who resigned from Trudeau’s cabinet in December and ran for the leadership against Carney, also arrived for the ceremony.
The ministers who have been playing key roles in Canada’s response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war — including Mélanie Joly, François-Philippe Champagne, Dominic LeBlanc and David McGuinty — are expected to be part of Carney’s cabinet, though their roles may change.
Joly, who is in Charlevoix, Que. for the G7 foreign ministers’ summit, will not be at the 11 a.m. ceremony and will instead be sworn in later in the day.
A source with knowledge of the move who was not authorized to speak publicly said Gary Anandasangaree, Trudeau’s minister of Crown-Indigenous relations, will be moved to the justice portfolio.
Arif Virani, who was minister of justice and attorney general under Trudeau, is one of eight ministers who do not plan to run in the next election.
Susan Smith, co-founder of Bluesky Strategy Group, said she thinks Carney will try “to signal both stability and a change in economic direction” with his cabinet picks.
Some Trudeau-era ministers will lose their cabinet positions, including Jean-Yves Duclos, who was public services and procurement minister and Trudeau’s Quebec lieutenant.
Carney is scheduled to chair a cabinet meeting at 2 p.m. and the new ministers are set to speak with media after the meeting.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 14, 2025.
