Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new cabinet is now officially sworn in as the government unveils its new priorities, here are some names to keep in mind.
On Tuesday, the new cabinet was sworn in at Ottawa’s Rideau Hall, presenting several returning ministers and 12 new names, while 10 previous ministers won’t be returning.
The new names reveal a somewhat significant change from Carney’s previous cabinet sworn in in March.
At the time, the prime minister focused highly on the fact that his cabinet was noticeably smaller, with only 23 names compared to the previous 37 in Justin Trudeau’s government.
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With the new cabinet, Carney increased the number of ministers to 28, with another 10 secretaries of state, who will be supporting the ministers.
The newly-elected prime minister spoke out about the new cabinet during a news conference on Tuesday, saying that the smaller cabinet would allow for a more narrow focus.
“It will operate with a commitment to true cabinet government with everyone expected and empowered to show leadership, to bring new ideas, to have a clear focus, and to take decisive actions to accomplish their work,” Carney told reporters.
University of Toronto Political Science Assistant Professor Randy Besco adds that this cabinet size will be more beneficial for his government.
“Carney’s accommodating himself to the kind of political realities, [such as] the need to [make] representation from different regions and groups happy, [and] this kind of stuff. But it’s definitely different than it was before the election,” he said.
The expert also says that while Carney was very vocal about distancing his government from Trudeau’s, it will be interesting to observe how that plays out in the new government, especially seeing that he brought back some well-known names from the previous Liberal government.
“It will be interesting to see how different the policies are than the Trudeau government. You know, [he] currently talks about that a lot, but it doesn’t mean it’s really going to happen. So, I don’t think there’s any really dramatic signals,” he said.
Some familiar names include the new Minister of Transport and Internal Trade Chrystia Freeland, who also ran for Liberal leadership along with Carney after resigning as Trudeau’s Finance Minister earlier this year.
Although there was some speculation around her return after the controversial exit, Besco says he was not surprised with her comeback, given that her good relationship with the current provincial governments make her a good choice for the role.
“Chrystia Freeland is the internal trade [minister], which she has a good relationship with a lot of the premiers, so I imagine she’ll be dealing with a lot of trying to remove trade barriers between provinces,” he said.
Another returning name to keep in mind is Dominic LeBlanc, who was Trudeau’s finance minister and now is responsible for the Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs and One Canadian Economy portfolio.
In light of the current turmoil with Canada’s southern neighbour after the U.S. President Donald Trump launched a trade war by implementing tariffs on Canadian goods, the professor says it is good to see an experienced face in the role.
“Dominic LeBlanc is dealing with the United States, which is very important. And he’s a very competent, experienced minister. He’s also not Chrystia Freeland, who Donald Trump really hates for some reason. So, you know, that’s sensible,” he added.
Anita Anand is another core name coming from Trudeau’s last government. The now Minister of Foreign Affairs was also the former prime minister’s head of public services and procurement, national defence, and most recently transport.
NEW GOVERNMENT’S PRIORITIES
Emphasizing his special focus on strengthening Canada’s economy, Carney spoke about some of the government’s main priorities, including the country’s relationship with the United States, high living costs and public safety.
“We will reinforce bridges across labour, businesses and civil society. And together, we will advance the nation-building investments that will support the core mission of this government, which is to create the strongest economy in the G7, an economy that works for everyone.”
Other ministries to keep in mind as the new government unveils these priorities include the Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree, who has served since 2024 as Crown-Indigenous relations minister and François-Philippe Champagne, the new Minister of Finance and National Revenue, who served in Trudeau’s cabinet since 2017.
Debuting as a minister, former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson takes over Housing and Infrastructure and Pacific Economic Development. The country currently faces a significant housing crisis, with studies indicating that up to 300,000 people experience homelessness, with potentially numerous unreported cases.
Carney’s new cabinet also makes history with the first Indigenous person to take over the Indigenous Services Ministry. Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou MP Mandy Gull-Masty is not new to being a first, as she was also the first woman to hold the position of Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Crees in 2021.
According to Besco, the nomination opens an interesting precedent after Trudeau appointed Mary Simon as Canada’s first Indigenous governor general, pushing for more Indigenous representation in the cabinet.
Another surprising name on the cabinet is former journalist Evan Soloman, who used to host TV and radio shows like the CBC’s “Power & Politics” and radio program “The House,” before announcing his candidacy earlier this year.
The former journalist was previously involved in a scandal after being fired from CBC following a conflict of interest issue where he had been reportedly negotiating art deals with sources he had contact with as a journalist.
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10 MINISTERS NOT RETURNING
Meanwhile, some names did not make into the new minister’s list, including three MPs brought in by Carney himself in the first cabinet—Arielle Kayabaga, Kody Blois and Ali Ehsassi—and a few others brought by Trudeau during his last cabinet shuffle last December—Terry Duguid, Nate Erskine-Smith, Rachel Bendayan and Elisabeth Briere.
Although surprising to many, Besco guarantees that this mindset change is completely normal for a newly-elected government, and could be due to many reasons.
“When Carney came in, he really needed to secure the Liberal Party. He was the new leader. [He] had no experience being a politician at all. He didn’t know most of the cabinet. So, [one] possibility is that some of the cabinet positions he chose before would partly secure support within the party. Speculative, on my part, but that seems plausible,” he suggested.
“[After he] won in the election, [it] is the time when he has the freest hands to do whatever he wants. He has sort of the most political capital, and so he’s going to do unpopular things like drop a minister.”
It’s impossible not to feel disrespected and the way it played out doesn't sit right. But I’m mostly disappointed that my team and I won’t have the chance to build on all we accomplished with only a short runway. /3
— Nate Erskine-Smith (@beynate) May 13, 2025
But not everyone seemed to take the decision lightly, including Erskine-Smith, who took to social media to express his discontent with being dropped from the cabinet.
In a post on X, the former housing minister said that he feels it’s “impossible not to feel disrespected” with the decision, and wishes he had more chances to make a difference.
