Justin Trudeau resigns as Canadian Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau will resign as Canadian Prime Minister after weeks of mounting pressure from within his ruling Liberal Party about how to deal with incoming US President Donald Trump and trade tariffs he has promised.

Speaking outside his residence at Rideau Cottage, Trudeau said he had taken time over the holidays to “reflect” with his family.

He said: “Throughout the course of my career, any success I have personally achieved has been because of their support and with their encouragement.

“So last night over dinner, I told my kids about the decision that I’m sharing with you today.

“I intend to resign as party leader as Prime Minister after the party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide, competitive process.”

Trudeau cited “internal battles” within the Liberal Party that meant he “cannot be the best option” in the next election.

The departure comes as polls show the Liberals could badly lose to the opposition Conservative Party in an election that must be held by late October 2025.

Justin Trudeau had been able to fend off Liberal legislators concerned about the polls and the loss of safe seats in two special elections.

However, his government was thrown into chaos after his Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, abruptly resigned just hours before she was set to deliver the country’s first economic update since the US election.

Trump has promised to slap 25% tariffs on Canadian goods when he enters office in January.

The tariffs add uncertainty to the future of the Canadian economy as it continues to struggle with high inflation.

In her resignation letter, Freeland said that she and the PM had been at odds over the best path forward for the country, and the tariffs posed a “grave challenge” for the economy.

She said: “We need to take that threat extremely seriously.”

Freeland added that the government needed to eschew “costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognise the gravity of the moment”.

In recent times, Justin Trudeau has become unpopular due to rising immigration, soaring housing prices and inflation.

He propelled the Liberals to power in 2015, promising “sunny ways”.

But the everyday realities of governing gradually wore him down and like many Western leaders, the need to deal with the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic ate up much of his time.

Although his government spent heavily to protect consumers and businesses, racking up record budget deficits, this provided little protection from public anger as prices soared.

A botched immigration policy also led to hundreds of thousands of arrivals, straining an already overheated housing market.