Who was Justin Trudeau?
Answer
Canada's 23rd Prime Minister (2015 to 2025), a Liberal son of Pierre Trudeau who legalised cannabis, introduced the Carbon Pricing Backstop, and led Canada through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Explanation
Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) was Canada's 23rd Prime Minister, serving from November 4, 2015 to March 14, 2025 (his resignation as Prime Minister, after announcing his resignation as Liberal leader on January 6, 2025). Trudeau is the son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and the second person born while a parent was Prime Minister to later become Prime Minister himself (after John Turner's brief 1984 tenure). Trudeau led the Liberal Party from April 14, 2013 to March 9, 2025.
Trudeau was born in Ottawa and grew up at 24 Sussex Drive (the Prime Minister's residence). He worked as a drama teacher in Vancouver before entering politics from Papineau in Montreal in 2008. He won the Liberal leadership on April 14, 2013 against Marc Garneau and Joyce Murray, then led the Liberals from third place to a majority government in the October 19, 2015 federal election (184 of 338 seats, the second-largest comeback in Canadian electoral history).
Trudeau's government introduced major progressive reforms. The Cannabis Act, in force October 17, 2018, made Canada the second country (after Uruguay) to legalise recreational cannabis nationally. The Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act of 2018 introduced the federal carbon-pricing backstop (a national price on greenhouse gas emissions, with the consumer fuel charge removed April 1, 2025 by his successor Mark Carney but the Output-Based Pricing System retained). The Indigenous Languages Act of 2019, the federal United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act of 2021, the legalisation of medical assistance in dying (Bill C-14, 2016) and its 2021 expansion (Bill C-7), and the federal Pay Equity Act of 2018 were major progressive milestones.
Trudeau led Canada through the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020. The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), and other federal pandemic supports totalled about $300 billion. The 2022 Truckers' Convoy in Ottawa prompted the first peacetime invocation of the federal Emergencies Act (revoked after about 10 days; the Federal Court ruled the invocation unlawful in January 2024). The 2025 Liberal leadership campaign followed Trudeau's January 6, 2025 resignation announcement, with Mark Carney winning the leadership on March 9, 2025 and the federal election on April 28, 2025.
Why this matters for your test
Justin Trudeau was a three-term Liberal Prime Minister who legalised cannabis, introduced carbon pricing, and led Canada through COVID-19. Recognising his 2015 victory and the COVID-19 response gives candidates two specific anchors.
Source: Library and Archives Canada; Office of the Prime Minister
