Who could replace Trudeau now that he’s announced his resignation?

On January 6th, Justin Trudeau announced his intention to resign as Prime Minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberals as soon as his party could choose a new leader. But who could be in the running to replace Trudeau?

Polling data gathered by the market research and public opinion firm Leger revealed in late December 2024 that there weren’t any real stellar options to replace Trudeau as the Liberal Party if he resigned. 

According to the data, 69% of Canadians thought that Trudeau should resign as Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party but support for his possible successors wasn’t very concentrated. However, there were a few leading figures. 

The Canadian news media has offered up a few key names that could replace Trudeau as leader, and it should come as no surprise that the majority of them have been critical cabinet ministers or people who have served in government for years. 

One of the most likely candidates that could replace Trudeau is his former deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland. Freeland was one of the PM's closest political allies throughout much of Trudeau's nine years in office. 

Freeland hails from the critical western province of Alberta and was a journalist before she entered politics in 2013. BBC News noted Freeland negotiated the new free trade agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico as finance minister. 

Trudeau’s right-hand woman was also in charge of Canada’s financial response to the Covid-19 pandemic. She led the group of likely candidates in Leger’s survey with 15% of support. This was followed closely by Mark Carney. 

Carney has never been elected to office but he is the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England. Trudeau had been trying to recruit Carney to serve alongside him as finance minister following Freeland's resignation in December 2024. 

Carney was born in Canada’s Northwest Territories and grew up in Alberta. He did end up serving Trudeau as a special economic advisor according to BBC News and was the second most likely candidate in Leger’s survey with 7% of support. 

The Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Affairs Minister  Mélanie Joly both received 4% support in Leger’s survey. However, both have said they do not intend to run for leadership, CBC News reported. They enjoyed slightly more support than other key names. 

For example, François-Philippe Champagne, the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry has indicated his interest in running to replace Trudeau. Champagne is from the critical province of Quebec but only got 3% of support in Leger’s survey. 

Former British Columbian Premier Christy Clark is another possible contender in the Liberal leadership race. She was very critical of Trudeau’s leadership in recent months.  However, like Champagne, she only wanted 3% of support in Leger’s survey. 

Liberal Member of Parliament Chandra Arya, a former Liberal backbencher who has an amazing immigrant success story, has already formally tossed his name into the race. Unfortunately, Arya’s name was not included in Leger’s survey. 

The same situation applies to businessman and former Liberal Member of Parliament, Frank Baylis. Baylis’ name was not included in Leger’s survey but he has announced his intention to run for the Liberal leadership according to BBC News. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Timbit-Wolverine, CC BY-SA 4.0

Anita Anand was a very interesting possibility to replace Trudeau. Leger found that she earned 3% of support from its survey respondents. However, Anand has already stated that she would not run for leadership.   

Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon also stated he would not run for leader whereas Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said he was considering it. Karina Gould could join the race and Cape Breton Member of Parliament Jaime Battiste has already said he is running. 

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