After leading the Liberals to a second consecutive minority government, the Prime Minister has unveiled his cabinet for this parliamentary session. This cabinet is very heavy on new ministers from the GTA region with Kamal Khera (Brampton West) Marci Ien (Toronto Centre) and Helena Jaczek (Markham-Stouffville) joining the front benches. Atlantic Canada is also a big winner with a number of new faces coming in, including Sean Fraser (Central Nova) and Gudie Hutchings (Long Range Mountains), as well as former Health Minister Ginette Petitpas-Taylor (Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe).  

Canada is also getting a new environment and climate change minister as environmental activist Steven Guilbeault (Laurier—Saint-Marie) is taking on the role following his previous posting as heritage minister. The Quebec MP, who has worked with groups such as Equiterre and Greenpeace, will have a prominent role in cabinet as the Liberals attempt to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. Jonathan Wilkinson, who has held the environment portfolio, will take over natural resources.  

Quebec MP Jean Yves Duclos becomes the new health minister. Patty Hajdu, who took on the health ministry just months before the pandemic hit, becomes minister of Indigenous Services and minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario. And after holding various Indigenous files, Carolyn Bennett moves to a new position as minister of Mental Health and Addictions and associate minister of Health. 

New Minister Profiles

Total: 8 new ministers

Minister	Ministry	Riding/Province	Background
Randy Boissonnault	Minister of Tourism; Associate Minister of Finance	Edmonton Centre, Alberta	First elected in 2015 and was reelected in 2021.  Served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage from 2015 to 2017.  Became Canada’s Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on LGBTQ2 issues in 2016.  Rhodes Scholar and former business consulting company owner.
Sean Fraser	Minister of Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship	Central Nova, Nova Scotia	First elected as MP for Central Nova in 2015.  Served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and to the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance from 2019 to 2021, and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change from 2018 to 2019.   In 2021, he also served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister.  Practised commercial litigation and international dispute resolution with one of Canada’s top-ranked law firms.
Mark Holland	Leader of the Government in the House of Commons	Ajax, Ontario	First elected as the MP for Ajax in 2004 and served until 2011. He was re-elected in 2015, 2019, and 2021.   Elected as a Durham Regional Councillor, and served from 1997 to 2004. He also served as Acting Mayor of Pickering.    Served as Chief Government Whip, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Democratic Institutions.
Gudie Hutchings	Minister of Rural Economic Development	Long Range Mountains, Newfoundland	First elected as the MP for Long Range Mountains in 2015.    Served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development and Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Tourism. She was also one of the original members of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.  Over 30 years of experience in the tourism industry.
Marci Ien	Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth	Toronto Centre, Ontario	Elected as the MP for Toronto Centre in October 2020.  Prior to being elected to the House of Commons, she had an award-winning career in journalism and television that spanned three decades. She has travelled internationally with Journalists for Human Rights and World Vision.
Helena Jaczek	Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario	Markham—Stouffville, Ontario	Served as the MPP for Oak Ridges—Markham from 2007 to 2018. During that time, she served as Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Chair of Cabinet, and Minister of Community and Social Services.   Prior to her work representing Oak Ridges—Markham, Minister Jaczek practised medicine at the Women’s College Hospital in Toronto. She was also the Medical Officer of Health and Commissioner of Health Services for the Regional Municipality of York, where she was responsible for public health, land ambulance, and long-term care for 18 years.
Kamal Khera	Minister of Seniors	Brampton West, Ontario	Elected as the MP for Brampton West in 2015.  Served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health.  Prior to entering politics, Minister Khera worked as a registered nurse in the oncology unit at St. Joseph’s Health Centre in Toronto.
Pascale St. Onge	Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec	Brome—Missisquoi, Quebec	Elected as the MP for Brome—Missisquoi in 2021.  Over the past decade, she served as Secretary General then President of the Fédération nationale des communications et de la culture.

Promotions

Mélanie Joly received a major promotion, moving up from minister of Economic Development and Official Languages to a much higher profile as foreign affairs minister. Oakville MP Anita Anand becomes only the second woman in Canadian history to take on the role of defence minister, after former prime minister Kim Campbell in the 1990s. 

Demotions

Along with astronaut Marc Garneau, who was minister of Foreign Affairs, Waterloo MP Bardish Chagger and Winnipeg MP Jim Carr were dropped from cabinet. It’s rumoured that Garneau may be headed to France as the Ambassador.

Other key changes:

• Transport Minister Omar Alghabra stays while Marie Claude Bibeau remains at agriculture and agri-food, Dianne Lebouthillier stays at national revenue and Lawrence MacAulay keeps veterans affairs. 
• Carla Qualtrough remains minister of Employment Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion. 
• Francois Philippe Champagne stays on as minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. 
• Former whip Mark Holland moves into a cabinet position, taking over as leader of the government in the House of Commons. 
• Ahmed Hussen becomes minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion 
• Karina Gould becomes minister of Families, Children and Social Development. 
• Joyce Murray becomes the new minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. 
• Mary Ng becomes minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development. 
• Seamus O’Regan becomes minister of Labour. 
• Ginette Petitpas Taylor gets a second chance in cabinet as minister of
  Official Languages and minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. 
• Filomena Tassi becomes minister of Public Services and Procurement.
• Dan Vandal stays on as minister of Northern Affairs but also takes on responsibility for Prairies Economic Development Canada and the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency. 

Breakdown

Total: 39 Ministers (including PM Trudeau)

Provincial Representation

Province	Number of Ministers
Ontario	16
Quebec	11
British Columbia	4
Newfoundland & Labrador	2
New Brunswick	2
Nova Scotia	1
Prince Edward Island	1
Manitoba	1
Alberta	1

New Faces

31 experience vs. 8 new to Cabinet

Gender

19 women vs. 20 men

What we expect next

Ministers will be huddling with their Deputy Ministers in the days and weeks to come as they start to pore over extensive briefing binders on the issues they will need to stickhandle. Ministerial mandate letters are being prepared and are usually made public (expected later this fall). Ministers will also be reviewing their political staff appointments so we can expect some significant changes to Chiefs of Staff and other staffers in the weeks ahead.  

Parliament is set to resume regular sittings on November 22nd.  

For the full list of cabinet, refer to the Prime Minister of Canada’s website.