Who will replace Justin Trudeau as Canada’s Liberal Party leader? Here’s what you need to know

Frontrunners include Chrystia Freeland and Mark Carney, who are making the case they can guide Canada through domestic and international issues. At the top of the list: mounting trade tensions with the United States.

The race is underway to replace Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Frontrunners to lead Trudeau’s ruling Liberal Party, including the internationally recognizable Chrystia Freeland and Mark Carney, are making the case they can guide Canada through numerous domestic and international issues, including mounting trade tensions with the United States. Following a series of political crises last year, Trudeau announced in January he would resign as Liberal leader once his replacement is chosen – and eventually hand over the Prime Minister’s office as well. This Sunday, Liberals finally tally the votes and announce their new leader, all as Canada’s general elections loom later this year. Here is what you need to know: Trudeau has led the party for over a decade. He took the Liberals to power in 2015, promising “sunny ways” for Canada and was elected two more times since then, most recently in 2021, when he remained in power but lost his governing majority. He championed progressive issues like combating climate change and addressing historic abuses against Indigenous peoples, but the latter years of his premiership have been marked by rising economic discontent. His administration was also rocked last year by the surprise resignation of Freeland, who was then deputy prime minister and finance minister, just hours before she was due to deliver her annual fiscal update. Trudeau is stepping down ahead of a major challenge to the Liberal party’s rule, with general elections expected by October. Liberals have been polling poorly against their Conservative rivals, helmed by right-wing firebrand Pierre Poilievre. But in recent weeks, the opposition lead has narrowed as Trudeau’s potential successors, like Carney, take strong, public stances on the ongoing trade dispute with the United States.