Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is stepping down as the leader of the ruling Liberal Party, following months of pressure from partymates to resign amid increasingly poor public approval ratings.
“I intend to resign as party leader as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide competitive process,” Trudeau said at a press conference Monday morning outside of his home in Ottawa. “This country deserves a real choice in the next election and it has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles I cannot be the best option in that election.”
The Globe and Mail first reported on Sunday that Trudeau would leave his party leadership post this week ahead of a key party caucus on Wednesday, citing three unnamed sources. (Reuters also reported Trudeau’s impending resignation, citing an unnamed source.)
Trudeau on Monday confirmed that he would remain in office as both Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister until a replacement is selected, meaning he will lead Canada during the early months of Donald Trump’s presidency, including navigating tense trade negotiations and potential tariff threats from the United States. Trudeau announced that Canada’s Parliament would be suspended until March 24 to give his Liberal Party time to choose a new leader.
Trudeau’s resignation comes before a federal parliamentary election that must happen by October 2025, but it can be held earlier if the House of Commons passes a motion of no-confidence to dissolve the incumbent Liberal government.
Why Trudeau stepped down
Trudeau’s nine-year tenure as Canadian Prime Minister has become tenuous, with two-thirds of Canadians disapproving of his performance, amid frustration over the cost of living and record immigration levels. The Liberal Party now trails the opposition Conservative Party by more than 20 percentage points and voter support hit a record low by the end of 2024.
The party does not hold an outright majority in Parliament and has relied on the backing of the more left-leaning New Democratic Party through a supply-and-confidence agreement, which the NDP dropped in September. The separatist Bloc Quebecois also dropped its support for the Liberals in October, with its leader saying it wanted to topple Trudeau’s government. These moves, along with recent losses in by-elections in formerly Liberal strongholds, pushed party members to hold a closed-door caucus meeting in late October in Ottawa, where they urged Trudeau to resign.
Pressure on Trudeau grew further following the Dec. 16 shock resignation of one of his closest allies, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, after he tried to demote her. In her resignation letter, Freeland accused Trudeau of “costly political gimmicks” over plans to cancel sales tax and hand out $250 checks for Christmas. Freeland said Canada needed to keep its “fiscal powder dry” ahead of a possible trade war amid Trump’s threat to slap a 25% tariff on all goods from Canada.
Trudeau has since shuffled his Cabinet, but the likelihood of elections being called sooner grew after NDP leader Jagmeet Singh issued a letter on Dec. 20 stating that his party “will vote to bring this government down” and put forward a motion of no-confidence. “Justin Trudeau has let you down, over and over,” Singh wrote in a statement after Trudeau announced his resignation Monday. “It doesn’t matter who leads the Liberals. They don’t deserve another chance.”
For many, Trudeau’s resignation marks the end of an era in Canadian politics. He first rose to national prominence as leader of the Liberal Party in 2013, inheriting a political legacy from his father, Pierre Trudeau, who served as prime minister for almost 16 years.
However, Trudeau’s legacy remains complex. His tenure will be remembered for progressive policies, including the legalization of cannabis, a national child care program that lowered fees to $10 a day, and a welcoming immigration policy. But his struggle to manage the economic and political challenges of recent years has overshadowed many of his achievements.
During his press conference Monday, Trudeau said he has one regret going into the upcoming election: that he did not change the electoral system to ranked-choice voting, which he pledged to do and believes would reduce political division. “People would have been looking for things they have in common, instead of trying to polarize and divide Canadians against each other,” he said of allowing Canadians the option to select a second or third choice on the ballot.
What happens next
The Liberal Party constitution states that upon resignation, the party board of directors, in consultation with the caucus, should appoint an “interim leader.”
But time may not be on Liberals’ side in its selection of a replacement for Trudeau, with the incoming Trump Administration and a looming general election. The party constitution states that nominees must submit nominations at least 90 days before a scheduled leadership vote. But it also states that the party board can change the date of a leadership vote and “alter any arrangements already made” if three-quarters of its voting members “determines that political circumstances require that the date be reset.”
Among the Liberal candidates who have been floated to potentially succeed Trudeau as party leader are Freeland; new Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc; Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly; Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne; and Transport and Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand.
Trudeau also said that Governor General Mary Simon, who represents the monarch in Canada, accepted his request to prorogue—essentially pause—Parliament until March 24. That is days before a March 31 deadline when the House of Commons needs to vote on interim supply—government funding for the first three months of the fiscal year. Votes on spending items like the supply are automatically considered votes of confidence.
Prorogation, while a routine parliamentary procedure, can buy sitting governments time amid their political crises. A prorogation of parliament will allow Liberals to delay a no-confidence vote and evade triggering elections earlier, though it could face legal hurdles.
“There will be confidence votes in March and the passing of supply, that will allow Parliament to weigh in on confidence in a way that is entirely in keeping with all the principles of democracy and the workings of our strong institutions,” Trudeau said.
