Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Chrystia Freeland says she will leave her seat in the House of Commons Friday as she prepares to take on her new role as an unpaid economic development adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Freeland made the announcement Wednesday amid concerns raised by the Conservatives and the opposition NDP, who called on her to resign immediately after accepting 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 wrote to the President to confirm that I will vacate my seat effective this Friday, January 9.”
Freeland said she consulted with the federal ethics commissioner “throughout” the process of accepting Ukraine’s advisory role “and followed his advice.”
Premier Mark Carney now has 180 days to call a by-election in the Toronto riding of University-Rosedale, which Freeland has represented as a Liberal MP since 2015.
Get the latest national news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up to receive breaking news alerts sent directly to you as they happen.
Carney told reporters in Paris on Tuesday he expected to call “a few by-elections” soon, but gave no indication of the timetable.
He said he did not ask Freeland to remain an MP in order to ensure the stability of her minority government, adding that he believed her accepting the new role in Ukraine meant she would have to vacate her seat.
“My judgment was that accepting this role would be consistent with resigning from her position as an MP, and I welcomed that,” Carney said.
Conservative MP and ethics critic Michael Barrett said Tuesday that Freeland could access sensitive information while advising a foreign government at the highest levels.
“Beyond the fact that serving Canadians is not a part-time job, the position she accepted with a foreign government, paid or unpaid, raises the question of whose interests will take priority,” he wrote on social media.
“It is essential that the Prime Minister protects Canada’s interests and maintains the highest levels of conduct and integrity. And he should not wait for someone to tell him that.”
Other opposition MPs, including Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong and interim NDP leader Don Davies, also said Freeland should have resigned as an MP before accepting a position with the leader of another country.
This resignation marks the final act of Freeland’s gradual exit from Canadian politics. She was first elected to Parliament in a by-election in 2013.
She held several senior cabinet positions under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, eventually becoming Deputy Prime Minister before resigning from the role in December 2024.
She was then appointed transport minister by Carney after running against him for the Liberal leadership last spring.
Freeland announced in September that she would leave the cabinet to become Carney’s special envoy to Ukraine, focusing on efforts to rebuild the war-ravaged country. She also said she would not run in the next federal election.
She said Monday that she would also leave that post to become an advisor to Zelensky.
“Moving forward, I will continue to support and help build Canada in any way I can, while championing the courageous fight of the Ukrainian people, a cause I have been committed to my entire life,” she wrote Wednesday.
Freeland will become CEO of the Rhodes Trust, a global education charity based in Oxford, England, from July 1.
—With files from the Canadian Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
