OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney shook up his cabinet Tuesday by moving some key players involved in Canada-U.S. relations into new positions and promoting 24 new faces in a move meant to signal change at the top.
Carney named 28 full ministers to his cabinet, which will meet for the first time on Wednesday. While some were prominent figures in former prime minister Justin Trudeau's government — including Dominic LeBlanc, Mélanie Joly, Chrystia Freeland and François-Philippe Champagne — Carney froze out other prominent members of his predecessor's team.
Carney also appointed a second tier of 10 secretaries of state — essentially junior ministers. On Tuesday, Carney called the two-tier arrangement a "more traditional cabinet."
Carney said he sought to balance new perspectives with experience in picking his team, and noted half of the ministers are new to the front bench.
"Canadians elected us with a mandate for change, so there is a great deal of change in this cabinet by necessity," Carney said Tuesday afternoon outside Rideau Hall after the swearing-in ceremony.
Carney vowed Parliament will move at a rapid pace once it starts up again on May 26 and said his government will deliver on its promises with "urgency and determination."
While Carney was flanked by core cabinet members during his appearance before journalists Tuesday, they were not made available to answer media questions during the press conference, contrary to past practice — keeping the spotlight squarely on the prime minister.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said afterward that while he would not "reflexively oppose" everything the Carney government does, it was not off to "a promising start" because Carney is keeping several MPs from Trudeau's cabinets on his front bench.
In one of the biggest moves of the shuffle, Anita Anand was named Canada's new foreign affairs minister — taking Joly off the Canada-U.S. relations file as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to upend the global trading order.
Anand has long been seen as a rising star within the party and a competent manager, although her cabinet profile rose and fell under Trudeau.
Joly, who has been foreign affairs minister since 2021, takes on the complex industry portfolio, while former public safety minister David McGuinty becomes the new defence minister. Former justice minister Gary Anandasangaree takes over from McGuinty at public safety.
Carney said he moved Joly into her new role because his government is focused on the economy, adding that he will be the one leading the charge with the White House.
"I wanted to come back home, take (on) a really big challenge — which is to build the economy with the prime minister," Joly told The Canadian Press, adding she asked for the new role.
Champagne is staying put as finance minister and LeBlanc will lead the Canada-U.S. trade file.
Carney has given LeBlanc a new title, tasking him with managing Canada-U.S. trade and intergovernmental affairs and creating “one Canadian economy.” Carney promised during the election campaign to knock down internal trade barriers.
Freeland remains at transport and will oversee internal trade, while Brampton MP Maninder Sidhu takes over international trade.
The prime minister has dropped several cabinet veterans from the Trudeau years, including former natural resources minister Jonathan Wilkinson and former defence minister Bill Blair.
Trudeau's close friend and former immigration minister Marc Miller, removed by Carney from cabinet in March, did not make the cut. Neither did Karina Gould, who ran in the recent Liberal party leadership race on Trudeau's legacy policies. Gould stepped away from cabinet to make that run, as did Freeland, but only the latter was put back into it.
Carney has moved former Goldman Sachs Canada CEO Tim Hodgson into the natural resources ministry, replacing Wilkinson. Carney has said he wants to build Canada into an energy “superpower” and prioritize big, “nation building” projects.
The two know each other well. During Carney’s time as governor of the Bank of Canada, Hodgson served as his special adviser. Carney also worked for Hodgson during his time at Goldman Sachs.
Julie Dabrusin, a Toronto MP since 2015, takes up environment and climate change.
Business groups indicated previously that the environment and energy ministries would be scrutinized heavily — and said that Guilbeault and Wilkinson, the key ministers defending Trudeau’s climate agenda, should be dropped from those ministries in order to mend fences with Western Canada.
Guilbeault, a former environment and climate change minister, retains his role as minister of heritage, now rebranded as Canadian identity and culture.
He told The Canadian Press that he will "keep a foot in the environment file," adding that "the reality is that we will have two environment ministers around the cabinet table."
"I'm still minister responsible for nature, biodiversity and Parks Canada," he said. "The prime minister and his team have worked hard to basically tailor-make something for me."
Former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson takes over the housing and infrastructure portfolio — another high-profile role in a government looking to make housing more affordable for younger Canadians.
Former housing minister Sean Fraser — who just last year announced plans to exit from politics so that he could spend more time with his family — has returned to the top rung of government as justice minister.
Former CBC Power and Politics host Evan Solomon will become Canada's first dedicated minister for artificial intelligence and digital innovation, underscoring the importance the Carney government attaches to this emerging technology.
Solomon is a friend of Carney and recently worked with prominent Liberal organizer and Trudeau friend Gerry Butts at the consultancy firm Eurasia Group.
Solomon was once embroiled in controversy for brokering art sales for high-profile buyers — including Carney — while he was still hosting CBC’s Power and Politics. The CBC concluded he had violated the broadcaster's ethics standards for journalists.
Marjorie Michel, who succeeded Trudeau in the Montreal riding of Papineau, becomes the new health minister, replacing Kamal Khera, who lost her Brampton seat in the last election.
Mandy Gull-Masty, the new MP for Nunavik and the first female grand chief of Cree Nation government in Quebec, has become the first Indigenous person to take on the role of Indigenous services minister.
Northwest Territories MP Rebecca Alty takes up Crown-Indigenous Relations. Heath MacDonald replaces Kody Blois as agriculture minister.
Quebec MP Joël Lightbound, who had been a vocal critic of Trudeau at times, becomes minister of government transformation, public works and procurement, replacing Ali Ehsassi and Jean Yves Duclos before him.
Carney appointed equal numbers of men and women to his core cabinet.
His secretaries of state are a throwback to governments prior to the Trudeau era. They're essentially junior ministers who are paid less than full ministers, are tasked with slimmer portfolios and lack departments of their own.
Notable new secretaries of state include Saskatchewan MP Buckley Belanger, former air force pilot Stephen Fuhr — who is seen as more of a blue Liberal — and former Liberal party president Anna Gainey.
Prominent Quebec gun control advocate Nathalie Provost and former Olympic athlete Adam van Koeverden were also named secretaries of state.
So was Wayne Long, a Liberal MP known for his sharp criticisms of Trudeau who led the charge for his ouster last year.
Carney has replaced Arielle Kayabaga as House leader with Steven MacKinnon, who served previously in the role. Kayabaga was brought into the role earlier this year but was not in office when the House was sitting.
— With files from Nick Murray and Sarah Ritchie
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2025.
Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press
