Under increasing pressure from his own party, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that he will step down and end his nine-year term at the helm.
Trudeau said he would remain in office until his Liberal Party chose a new leader, and that parliament would be prorogued – or suspended – until March 24.
“This country deserves the right choice in the next election and it has become clear to me that if I have to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election,” he said at a news conference on Monday.
Trudeau’s personal unpopularity with Canadians has become a growing drag on his party’s fortunes ahead of a federal election later this year.
“Last night, over dinner, I told my children the decision I’m sharing with you today,” he said at a news conference in Ottawa.
“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party has chosen its next leader through a robust national competitive process,” he said.
The president of the Liberal Party, Sachit Mehra, said that a meeting of the party’s executive committee would be held this week to begin the process of selecting a new leader.
Who could replace Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party?
Why the Trudeau era is now over
In a statement, he added: “Liberals across the country are immensely grateful to Justin Trudeau for more than a decade of leadership for our party and country.”
“As prime minister, his vision has brought transformational progress for Canadians,” he said, citing programs his government has implemented such as the Canada Child Benefit and the establishment of dental care and pharmacy coverage for some drugs.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said “nothing has changed” after Trudeau’s resignation.
“Every Liberal MP and leadership candidate supported EVERYTHING Trudeau did for 9 years and now they want to cheat voters by replacing another Liberal face to continue ripping off Canadians for another 4 years, just like Justin,” Poilievre wrote on X.
Trudeau, 53, has faced growing calls to quit his Liberal Party, which intensified in December when Deputy Prime Minister and longtime ally Chrystia Freeland suddenly resigned.
In a public letter of resignation, he quoted Freeland Newly elected US President Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs on Canadian goodsand accused Trudeau of not doing enough to address the “serious challenge” posed by Trump’s proposals.
Trump has vowed to impose a 25% tax on imported Canadian goods – which economists have warned will significantly hurt the Canadian economy – unless the country takes steps to increase security at its shared border.
Trudeau said Monday he had hoped Freeland would remain deputy prime minister, “but she decided otherwise.”
Canada, meanwhile, has announced that it will implement it new security measures along the US border in response to the threat.
In an online post, Trump claimed that pressure over tariffs led to Trudeau’s resignation and repeated his joke that Canada should become the “51st country.”
“If Canada merged with the US, there would be no tariffs, taxes would be much lower, and they would be COMPLETELY SAFE from the threat of Russian and Chinese ships constantly surrounding them,” he wrote.
As of 2019, the Liberal Party is ruling as a minority party.
After Freeland’s resignation, Trudeau lost the support of the parties that previously helped the Liberals stay in power – the left-leaning New Democrats, who had an endorsement deal with the Liberals, and Quebec’s nationalist party, the Bloc Quebecois.
The main opposition party, the Conservatives, have maintained a significant double-digit lead over the Liberals in the polls for months – suggesting the Liberals could suffer a significant defeat if a general election were held today.
The Liberals will now elect a new leader to lead the party into the next election, which must be held on or before October 20.
A senior government official told the BBC the race was an open contest and the Prime Minister’s Office would stay out of the process entirely, leaving Liberal Party members to decide their future.
Speaking to reporters, Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-François Blanchet suggested calling early elections after the Liberals choose their new leader.
The end of the Trudeau era
Trudeau is the son of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who dominated the country’s politics in the 1970s and 80s.
The younger Trudeau became prime minister after the Liberal Party won a large majority in 2015 with a promise to usher in a new, progressive era of “Sunny Ways.”
His record includes a commitment to gender equality in his cabinet, which continues to be 50% female; progress in reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in Canada; the introduction of a national carbon tax; implementation of tax-free child allowance for families; and legalizing recreational hemp.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak praised Trudeau’s record on Indigenous issues after his resignation, saying in a statement that he has “taken significant steps to address issues important to First Nations.”
“While much work remains, these actions have laid the groundwork for future governments to build upon.”
Clouds have begun to hang over Trudeau’s government in recent years, which has weathered a series of often self-inflicted scandals, including a controversy over a deal with a Canadian company facing corruption charges and photos that emerged of the prime minister wearing brownface makeup.
The vaccine requirements and other restrictions also drew backlash from some Canadians, leading to the Freedom Convoy truck protests in early 2022. Trudeau eventually used unprecedented emergency powers to remove the protesters.
As Canada began to emerge from the pandemic, housing and food prices soared, and its government abandoned ambitious immigration goals as public services began to show strain.
At the end of 2024, Trudeau’s approval rating was at an all-time low – just 22% of Canadians said they thought he was doing a good job, according to one voter tracker.
In Ottawa, a small group of protesters danced outside Parliament to celebrate his resignation.
One bystander, however, said he thought things were fine under Trudeau’s watch.
“I’m a carpenter,” Hames Gamarra, who is from British Columbia, told the BBC. “I’m minding my own business, getting paid, paying the bills. It was fine.”
Another Canadian, Marise Cassivi, said it felt like the end of an era. When asked if she felt any tinges of sadness, she replied: “No.”
– That’s the real thing.
