With Canada, somewhat reluctantly but very stoically, finding itself as the first line of defence in an international trade war started by Donald Trump and his vandalising economic policy, it may have been an inopportune moment for the country to change its leader.

When Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister for the previous ten years, announced his intention to stand down in January 2025, former Governor of the Bank of Canada, and former Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney stood and was elected. He is the first Prime Minister of Canada never to have previously held a government post before becoming leader.

Alan Wares looks at the career of a man who, should he win his country’s election at the end of April, has found himself at the frontier of a storm of his neighbour’s making.

 

Early life

Carney was born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories - truly in Canada’s frozen north, and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. He attended St. Francis Xavier High School before studying at Harvard University on a partial scholarship and financial aid. During his Harvard years, he was reserve goaltender for the varsity ice hockey team. 

He graduated in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in economics with high honours. He then undertook postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford at St Peter’s College and Nuffield College, where he received Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degrees in economics in 1993 and 1995, respectively.

 

Finance career

After graduating, Carney spent 13 years at Goldman Sachs and worked in their Boston, London, New York City, Tokyo, and Toronto offices. His progressively more senior positions included co-head of sovereign risk, executive director for emerging debt capital markets, and managing director for investment banking. He worked on South Africa’s post-apartheid venture into international bond markets and was involved in Goldman’s work with the 1998 Russian financial crisis.

In 2003, Carney left Goldman Sachs to join the Bank of Canada as a deputy governor. One year later, he was recruited to the Department of Finance Canada as senior associate deputy minister, beginning November 15th 2004.

From November 2004 to October 2007, Carney was the senior associate deputy minister and G7 deputy in the Department of Finance Canada. He served under two finance ministers: Ralph Goodale, a Liberal; and Jim Flaherty, a Conservative. During this time, Carney oversaw the Government of Canada’s controversial plan to tax income trusts at source. 

 

Governor of the Bank of Canada (2008–2013)

In October 2007, Carney was appointed Governor of the Bank of Canada. He immediately left his position at the Department of Finance to become an advisor to the outgoing governor, David Dodge, before formally assuming Dodge’s position on February 1st, 2008. Carney was selected over Paul Jenkins, the senior deputy governor, who had been considered the front-runner to succeed Dodge.

Carney took on this role at the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis. At the time of his appointment, Carney was the youngest central bank governor among the G8 and G20 nations. His actions as Governor of the Bank of Canada are said to have played a major role in helping Canada avoid the worst impacts of the financial crisis.

The Canadian economy outperformed its G7 peers during the crisis, and Canada was the first G7 nation to recover its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment to pre-crisis levels.

Canada’s risk-averse fiscal and regulatory environment is also cited as a factor. In 2009 a Newsweek columnist wrote, “Canada has done more than survive this financial crisis. The country is positively thriving in it. Canadian banks are well capitalised and poised to take advantage of opportunities that American and European banks cannot seize.”

Carney earned various accolades for his leadership during the financial crisis: he was named one of Financial Times’s “Fifty Who Will Frame the Way Forward” and Time Magazine’s 2010 Time 100.

On November 4th 2011, Carney was named chairman of the Basel-based Financial Stability Board, which coordinates international financial regulatory authorities. In a statement, Carney credited his appointment to “the strong reputation of Canada’s financial system and the leading role that Canada has played in helping to develop many of the most important international reforms”. The three-year term was a part-time commitment, allowing Carney to complete his term at the Bank of Canada.

 

Governor of the Bank of England (2013–2020)

On November 26th 2012, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced the appointment of Carney as Governor of the Bank of England. He succeeded Sir Mervyn King on July 1st 2013. He was the first non-Briton to be appointed to the role since the Bank of England was established in 1694.

Before taking up the post, Carney made his mark, having already had a disagreement with the Bank of England’s Executive Director of Financial Stability, Andy Haldane, specifically on leverage ratios and bank break-ups. He has been quoted as saying that Haldane does not have a “proper understanding of the facts” on bank regulation. 

Shortly before Carney took up the post, the Bank of England took up the financial regulation duties after the Financial Services Authority. Carney’s changes to the Bank’s operating procedures helped modernise the institution by making many more media appearances than predecessors, including controversial announcements during two referendums.

In May 2014, Carney warned the UK’s heated housing market was the biggest risk to financial stability, and he was considering providing advice on the Help to Buy mortgage scheme, which some believed was contributing to housing inflation. He stated UK housing prices and the lack of affordability of housing in the United Kingdom was due to limited supply, and noted twice as many homes were built in Canada than in the UK, although Canada had half the population.

Also in that year, Carney warned that if the Scottish independence referendum was successful, the new country would likely not be able to continue using the pound sterling without ceding some powers to the UK.

In 2015, Carney changed the number of yearly interest rate meetings from 12 to eight and ordered minutes to be published during the announcements.

Before the 2016 Brexit referendum, Carney warned that leaving the European Union could cause a recession. After the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron, he made another public announcement shortly after the result supporting a departure, he announced that the financial system would operate normally to assuage public concerns.

Afterwards, the bank cut interest rates in half from 0.5% to 0.25% and restarted quantitative easing. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, as Carney was set to leave the governorship in March 2020, the bank cut interest rates by 0.5% to protect against the pandemic’s expected economic shocks.

 

Post-governorships (2020–)

In 2020, Carney served as one of many informal advisors to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, advising him on the government’s COVID-19 economic response. Carney reportedly advised Trudeau on Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Trudeau looking to Carney to help Canada get out of its recession. Due to this, speculation started to mount that Carney may become Minister of Finance, and possibly even, Canadian Prime Minister if Trudeau resigned.

On January 16th 2025, Carney officially announced that he was running in the 2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election following Trudeau’s resignation. Carney also announced that he stepped down from all executive, board and advisory positions that he was part of in order to focus on his leadership campaign. By February 9th, his campaign had raised more than $1.9 million in donations from over 11,000 people and received endorsements from 66 Liberal caucus members.

Carney won on the first ballot with over 85.9% of the vote, making him the leader of the Liberal Party. His margin of victory surpassed Justin Trudeau’s 2013 margin, winning all 343 electoral districts.

On March 14th 2025, five days after winning the leadership election, Carney was sworn in as the 24th Prime Minister of Canada. Upon taking the oath of office, he became the first Canadian Prime Minister never to have served in prior elected office and the first since John Turner not to be sitting in the House of Commons at the time of appointment.

In his first act as prime minister, Carney signed a prime ministerial directive to end the consumer carbon tax by April 1st, while ensuring that April’s carbon rebate continues.

As someone who doesn’t currently sit in the Canadian House of Commons, Carney called a Federal Election (the Canadian version of a UK General Election) for April 28th, where he will contest the seat of Nepean in Ontario. This will allow him to attend the House, should he win his seat.

At the time of writing, the Liberal Party of Canada, the party Carney leads, is in front in virtually all of the polls by between five and nine points. The Liberals also have the luxury of having the support of the left-wing and centre-left parties in the Canadian parliament. In short, Carney is expected to be returned as Prime Minister.

 

Trade war

During the election run-up, President Donald Trump promised to impose tariffs upon its allies and main trading partners for economic reasons that, when the surface is scratched, make little sense and, according to the vast majority of economists, are largely self-defeating.

Even more bizarre was Trump’s threat, breaking several international laws should he ever enact it, of insisting - against her will - that Canada become the 51st US state. As such, he promised a trade war if Canada did not accede. Naturally, it did not. Carney has picked up Trudeau’s (and virtually every other Canadian’s) narrative of rejecting such a premise.

Upon dissolving Parliament to Canada’s Governor-General (effectively King Charles III’s emissary to Canada), Carney said, “We’re facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump’s unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty,” Mr Carney said after asking Canada’s governor-general to dissolve parliament.

“Our response must be to build a strong economy and a more secure Canada. President Trump claims that Canada isn’t a real country. He wants to break us so America can own us. We will not let that happen. We’re over the shock of the betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons. We have to look out for ourselves. We have to look out for each other.”

Carney’s stance against Trump is finding much favour with Canadians, and many experts predict it will carry him through the Federal Election.

For his part, King Charles III, still sovereign over Canada, has reaffirmed his commitment to the country, even against the backdrop of the farcical behaviour of a respected ally.

Assuming electoral victory, whilst Carney is considered by commentators to not particularly be a ‘people-person’ (a ‘technocrat’ one writer called him), he does have a history of dealing with world leaders on a one-to-one basis and knows what the effects of economic vandalism can do.

But more than that, Canada is the first international line of defence against Trump’s behaviour, a position it really doesn’t want to have to be in – but is honouring its own sovereignty admirably. If Canada crumbles, other countries may feel a little more vulnerable. The world political breeze, therefore, is certainly with Canada, and with Carney.

Trump will not scare Carney, and right now, given Canadians’ hostility to the US generally and Trump specifically, that will be something his fellow countrymen want—and need—to hear.