Justin Trudeau's tenure as prime minister of Canada began on November 4, 2015, when he accepted an invitation by David Johnston, the governor general of Canada, to form the 29th Canadian Ministry, succeeding Stephen Harper of the Conservative Party.Justin Trudeau and his cabinet sworn in at Rideau Hall November 4, 2015 Trudeau, leader of the Liberal party, led his party to victory following the 2015 federal election, where they won a majority of seats in the House of Commons of Canada, defeating the Conservative majority government. Trudeau's Liberals were reduced to minority governments in the federal elections of 2019 and 2021, with his party losing the national popular vote twice.
On March 14, 2025, Trudeau resigned as prime minister, being succeeded by Mark Carney.
Mandates
Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party won the 2015 Canadian federal election with 6,943,276 votes, representing 39.47% of votes cast. In the following election in 2019, Justin Trudeau's Liberals won the most seats, but with fewer votes than Andrew Scheer's Conservative Party. The Liberals received 6,018,728 votes (33.12%) compared to the Conservatives' 6,239,227 (34.34%). In the following election in 2021, Justin Trudeau's Liberals won the most seats, but again with fewer votes than Erin O'Toole's Conservative Party. The Liberals received 5,556,629 votes (32.62%) compared to the Conservatives' 5,747,410 (33.74%).
2015 federal election
In the federal election of October 19, 2015, the Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau, won 184 seats in the 42nd Canadian Parliament and formed a majority government. Trudeau and his Cabinet were sworn in on November 4, 2015. The Conservative Party, led by incumbent prime minister Stephen Harper, won 99 seats, becoming the Official Opposition. Harper had served as prime minister from 2006 to 2015. Trudeau decided to reside at Rideau Cottage rather than 24 Sussex Drive as prime minister.
2019 federal election
In the federal election of October 21, 2019, the Liberals, led by incumbent prime minister Justin Trudeau, won 157 seats in the 43rd Canadian Parliament, losing 20 seats from 2015 and thus formed a minority government. The Conservatives, led by Andrew Scheer, won 122 seats, gaining 26 from 2015, and also won the popular vote. The Bloc Québécois, led by Yves-François Blanchet, won 32 seats, gaining 10 from 2015, and attained third-party status in the House of Commons. The New Democratic Party (NDP), under Jagmeet Singh, won 24 seats, losing 15 from 2015. The Green Party, led by Elizabeth May, won 3 seats, gaining 2 from 2015.
2021 federal election
In the federal election of September 20, 2021, the Liberals, led by incumbent prime minister Justin Trudeau, won 160 seats in the 44th Canadian Parliament, gaining 3 seats from 2019 and thus formed another minority government. The Conservatives, led by Erin O'Toole, won 119 seats, losing 2 from 2019 and also won the popular vote. The Bloc Québécois, led by Yves-François Blanchet, won 32 seats and remained "third-party status in the House of Commons". The New Democratic Party (NDP), under Jagmeet Singh, won 25 seats, gaining 1 seat from 2019. The Green Party, led by Annamie Paul, won 2 seats, losing 1 from 2019.
Cabinet
Following the November 4, 2015 Rideau Hall swearing in ceremony by Governor General David Johnston, Justin Trudeau, was invited to form his Cabinet and to become the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada. The Liberal Party, led by Trudeau, won a majority of the seats in the House of Commons of Canada, defeating the Conservative led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The original members of the 29th Canadian Ministry included fifteen men and fifteen women and was the first gender-balanced cabinet in Canadian history. Following the July 2018 cabinet shuffle, the cabinet consisted of 34 members with 17 women and 17 men, excluding Trudeau.
Trudeau has promised to decentralize power from the Prime Minister's Office and give Cabinet a larger role in governing, stating "government by cabinet is back".
Trudeau reshuffled his cabinet in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2024. In 2019, Chrystia Freeland was appointed the country's deputy prime minister.
Domestic policy
The Trudeau government's economic policy relied on increased tax revenues to pay for increased government spending. While the government did not balance the budget in its first term, it purported being fiscally responsible as it reduced the country debt-to-GDP ratio every year until the year 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Trudeau's progressive social policy included strong advocacy for feminism and abortion rights, and introduced the right to medically assisted dying. Canada also legalized cannabis for recreational use in October 2018.
On November 5, 2015, during the first Liberal caucus meeting since forming a majority government, the party announced that it would reinstate the mandatory long-form census that had been scrapped in 2010, effective with the 2016 census.
His government responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with expansive government aid programs, leading Canada to be characterized among the group of countries with the most interventionist economic policies during the period. Amidst the pandemic, he became increasingly preoccupied with addressing what he saw as the fundamental problems and social inequalities that had been laid bare by the crisis. This shift was signified by the replacement of Bill Morneau by Chrystia Freeland as finance minister, with the former hailing from the party's right flank, and the latter from the economically interventionist camp. Media commenters identified this moment as a turning point, where the government took a major turn to the left on fiscal policy. Trudeau's government would go on to establish a national childcare program, which analysts have described as the largest expansion of Canada's welfare state since the establishment of universal healthcare in the 1960s. And the implementation of a dental care program, under a confidence and supply agreement with the NDP, would expand it even further.
His environmental policy included introducing new commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% before 2030, and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. His main tool for reaching this target is a federal carbon pricing policy, which eventually became largely unpopular with the Canadian public. Trudeau's parliament also adopted legislation for marine conservation, banning single-use plastic, and strengthening environmental impact assessments. However, Trudeau is in favor of oil and gas pipelines to bring Canadian fossil fuel resources to foreign markets.
Under Trudeau, Canada set targets to welcome an increased number of immigrants and refugees. In 2024, Canada admitted 483,390 new permanent residents, including 127,320 from India.
Shortly before his resignation, Trudeau announced the Alto high speed rail project between Toronto and Quebec City.
Establishments In July 2016, Trudeau announced the formation of the first Prime Minister's Youth Council. Thirty Canadians aged 16 to 24 comprised the board, that would advise the prime minister on education, economy, climate change, and other issues affecting youth.
In June 2017, Trudeau created the Canada Infrastructure Bank, a federal Crown Corporation of Canada tasked with financially supporting revenue-generating infrastructure projects that are "in the public interest" through public-private partnerships.
In July 2019, Trudeau established the Office of the Intelligence Commissioner of Canada as part of the National Security Act, 2017, an omnibus bill introduced by the government which reworked many of the existing mechanisms within the intelligence community in Canada, including oversight of intelligence gathering and any actions taken by intelligence agencies on behalf of the Government of Canada.
In Parliament In 2015, his government announced a new Senate of Canada members' appointment process overseen by a new Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments, which was seen as an attempt to make the Senate less partisan without requiring constitutional change. The Independent Advisory Board was constituted in 2016. Members of the board include members from each jurisdiction where there is a vacancy. The board provides a short list of recommended candidates to the prime minister, who is not bound to accept them. Some provinces refused to participate, stating that it would make the situation worse by lending the Senate some legitimacy.
In 2017, Trudeau's government introduced a policy to answer all questions once a week on Wednesday during every sitting of the House of Commons, in addition to the traditional Question Period. However, the practice was discontinued in 2025 by his successor, Mark Carney.https://constitution-unit.com/2025/10/08/prime-ministers-question-period-in-the-canadian-house-of-commons-lessons-in-parliamentary-reform/
Confidence and supply agreement On March 22, 2022, the Liberals and the NDP entered a confidence and supply agreement. The intent of the agreement was to avert any prospective early election prior to 2025 and to allow the minority Trudeau government to stay in power for the full four-year term of the parliament in exchange for Liberals supporting certain policy priorities favored by NDP.
Among the policies included in the deal were: the establishment of a national dental care program for low-income Canadians, progress towards a national pharmacare program, labour reforms for federally regulated workers, and new taxes on financial institutions.
In early 2024, the two parties reached an impasse over pharmacare, putting the deal in jeopardy. The agreement called for the development of the Canada Pharmacare Act by the end of 2023, setting out a framework for the system; however, the NDP had agreed to extend the deadline to March 1 of the following year as negotiations became fraught. Major points of contention included the NDP's demand that the system be single-payer, as well as preliminary coverage for certain drugs prior to the implementation of the full system. On February 23, the parties reached an agreement, salvaging the deal. The agreement provided coverage for diabetes and contraceptive drugs ahead of the full program's launch.
In September 2024, the NDP pulled their support and ended the confidence and supply agreement. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said the Liberals had "let people down" and were "too weak, too selfish and too beholden to corporate interests" to fight for people, citing discontent with the Liberals' performance on healthcare reforms and affordability measures. Trudeau stated he would continue to work for Canadians and not focus on politics.
No-confidence motions On September 25, 2024, Trudeau survived a no-confidence vote brought by the Conservative Party, followed by another on October 1, 2024, and on December 9, 2024. On December 20, 2024, Singh pledged to put forward another no-confidence motion and vote out Trudeau's government.
Changes to the Parliamentary Budget Office
The Liberal Party's 2015 election platform committed to making the PBO "truly independent of the government" and "accountable only – and directly – to Parliament", as opposed to being under the Library of Parliament. The platform also committed to expand the PBO's mandate to include "the costing of party election platforms". These changes were included in the Budget Implementation Act, 2017 and came into force in September 2017, but also included new restrictions on the PBO.
Town hall meetings Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Justin Trudeau would hold in-person town hall meetings around Canada. The attendees would ask him questions for around an hour and a half, and he would answer every one of them. Admission was open to everyone and the questions were not vetted.