March 14, 2025 | Category: Government Updates

Government of Canada Appoints New Minister of Transport

Ottawa, ON—The Right Honourable Mark Carney and his Cabinet were sworn in as the 30th Ministry in a ceremony earlier today. The accompanying announcement noted that, “this team reflects the ambition that makes Canada strong, and it will work each day to protect workers, families, and businesses. It will take action to unite Canadians, defend Canada’s sovereignty in the face of unjustified trade actions by the United States, make Canada an energy superpower in both conventional and clean energy, create new trade corridors with reliable partners, and build one Canadian economy – the strongest economy in the G7.”

Hon. Chrystia Freeland was appointed Minister of Transport and Internal Trade. 

Other appointments relevant to WESTAC members:

• Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of International Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs and President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada
• Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development
• François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance
• Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources
• Ginette Petitpas Taylor, President of the Treasury Board
• Kody Blois, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Rural Economic Development

Click here for the full Cabinet list.

Hon. Chrystia Freeland

Chrystia was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre in 2013. She was elected as Member of Parliament for University—Rosedale in 2015 and re-elected in 2019 and 2021.

From 2015 to 2017, Chrystia served as Minister of International Trade, overseeing the successful negotiation of free trade with the European Union. From January 2017, to November, 2019, she served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, leading the successful renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

In November 2019, Chrystia was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, where she helped lead Canada’s united response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was appointed Minister of Finance in August 2020 becoming the first woman in Canadian history to hold the position.

An esteemed journalist and author, Chrystia was born in Peace River, Alberta. She was educated at Harvard University before continuing her studies on a Rhodes Scholarship at the University of Oxford.

In 2018, the Deputy Prime Minister was recognized as Foreign Policy's Diplomat of the Year. She was also awarded the Eric M. Warburg Award by Atlantik-Brücke, for her achievements in strengthening transatlantic ties. In 2020, she was awarded Freedom House’s Mark Palmer Prize, in recognition of her years of work in championing democracy and human rights.

Chrystia speaks 5 languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Italian, French, and English. She currently lives in Toronto with her husband and three children.