Chrystia Freeland says she will vacate her seat House of Commons on Friday as she prepares to take on her new role as unpaid economic development adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Freeland made the announcement Wednesday amid concerns from the opposition Conservatives and the NDP, who had called on her to resign immediately if she accepted a role as an adviser to a foreign government.
“On Monday I announced my intention to leave the House of Commons in the coming weeks,” Freeland wrote in a post on X.
“Today I have written to the Speaker to confirm that I will be vacating my seat with effect from Friday 9 January.”
Freeland said she consulted with the federal ethics commissioner “during” the process of accepting the Ukraine advisory role and “followed his advice.”
Premier Mark Carney now has 180 days to call a byelection for the University-Rosedale Party in Toronto, which Freeland has represented as a Liberal MP since 2015.
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Carney told reporters in Paris on Tuesday He expected to call “some by-elections” soon, but gave no indication of when.
He said he did not ask Freeland to remain in the House of Representatives to ensure the stability of his minority government, adding that he believed accepting the new role in Ukraine meant she would have to vacate her seat.
“In my opinion, taking on this role would be consistent with stepping down as an MP, and I welcomed her to do so,” Carney said.
Conservative MP and ethics critic Michael Barrett said on Tuesday that Freeland could access sensitive information while advising a foreign government at the highest level.
“Aside from the fact that serving Canadians is not a part-time job, the position she has accepted with a foreign government, whether paid or unpaid, raises questions about whose interests will come first,” he wrote on social media.
“It is critical for the prime minister to protect Canada’s interests and maintain the highest levels of conduct and integrity. And he should not wait for anyone to tell him that.”
Other opposition MPs, including Conservative foreign policy critic Michael Chong and incumbent NDP leader Don Davies, also said Freeland should have resigned as an MP before taking a job with another leader.
The resignation marks the final act of Freeland’s gradual exit from Canadian politics. She was elected to parliament for the first time in a 2013 by-election.
She held several senior cabinet positions under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, eventually rising to deputy prime minister before stepping down from her posts in December 2024.
She was later appointed transport minister by Carney after running against him for the Liberal leadership last spring.
Freeland announced in September that she was leaving the Cabinet to serve as Carney’s special envoy to Ukraine and focus on efforts to rebuild the war-ravaged country. She also said that she would not run in the next federal election.
She said Monday that she would also leave that position to serve as an adviser to Zelensky.
“Going forward, I will continue to support Canada in every way possible and contribute to the building of Canada, while supporting the courageous struggle of the Ukrainian people, a cause to which I have been committed my entire life,” she wrote on Wednesday.
Freeland will become CEO of the Rhodes Trust, a global education organization based in Oxford, England, effective July 1.
– With files from the Canadian Press
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