Canada has selected its leader as it prepares to navigate ongoing trade tensions with its neighbor to the south.
CBC News projected on Tuesday morning that the Liberal Party will form the next government and give Prime Minister Mark Carney a full term. It’s unclear if they will have a majority — 172 seats in the House of Commons are needed — or if they’ll need to form a governing coalition. As of 4:15 a.m. ET, the Liberal Party had secured 168 seats, per Elections Canada’s real-time tracker.
Carney, a former Goldman Sachs banker and the former governor of Canada’s and England’s central banks, defeated the Conservative Party’s Pierre Poilievre, as well as Jagmeet Singh of the New Democratic Party and Yves-François Blanchet of the Bloc Québécois, according to CBC News’ projection.
In a speech in Ottawa on election night after his projected win, Carney congratulated Poilievre on “a hard-fought, fair, good campaign.”
Canada’s trade dispute with the US
The trade dispute with President Donald Trump and the United States was a key issue in the election and a springboard for Carney’s success. The Conservative Party, which ran on domestic issues such as immigration and cost of living, held a significant lead in the polls until tariffs became top-of-mind for the country.
Carney has been at the head of the Liberal Party since March, when he took over from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau served as Canada’s prime minister from 2015 to 2025.
Carney has presided over a period of national pride for Canada as the country responds to US tariffs and President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Canada as the 51st state.
“As I’ve been warning for months, America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country. Never,” Carney said in his victory speech on Tuesday to loud cheers from supporters.
“But these are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us. That will never, that will never, ever, happen,” he added.
In a speech in March, Carney spoke in fiery terms about the new political climate with the US.
“I know that these are dark days. Dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust,” he said.
In the weeks since Carney began leading Canada, Trump has imposed a 25% tariff on cars, aluminum, and steel. Another 25% tariff on car parts is expected to take effect on May 3. The US also has a 25% tariff on Canadian goods that are not exempted from the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Canada has imposed 25% tariffs on US goods, including steel, aluminum products, and cars.
Some Canadians have started boycotting US goods and avoiding the US. The tariffs have fueled a “buy Canadian” movement, and airlines and other travel companies have reported a decline in Canadians visiting the US.
Poilievre was expected to become Canada’s next prime minister before Trump’s trade policy pushed Canadians back toward the Liberal Party, which had been in power under Trudeau. Poilievre, who has been compared to Trump, has led the Conservative Party of Canada since 2022 and served in parliament since 2004.
Carney has a background in commercial and international roles
Carney spent 13 years working for Goldman Sachs in London, Tokyo, New York, and Toronto.
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He led two central banks at pivotal moments.
After leaving Goldman Sachs in 2003, Carney served as the Bank of Canada’s deputy governor. He was made governor in 2008, at the start of the global financial crisis.
He was the governor of the Bank of England from 2013 through 2020, where he guided the bank’s response to Brexit.
Since leaving the Bank of England, Carney has held a mix of commercial and international roles. He was appointed the vice chair of Brookfield Asset Management in 2020 and was made chair after the division was spun out as a new company in 2022.
In 2021, Carney became a board member of the digital payments company Stripe. He was named the chair of Bloomberg’s board in 2023.
In January, Carney said while announcing his leadership bid for the Liberal Party that he had resigned from all his commercial and international roles.
