Who is Mark Carney - the new Canadian Prime Minister?

29 April 2025, 11:29 | Updated: 29 April 2025, 12:23

From his career before politics to his policies and even his family life with his wife and children, here's everything you need to know about Mark Carney, the leader of Canada's Liberal Party and new PM.

Mark Carney has been elected as the Prime Minister of Canada after his political group, the Liberal Party, won the most recent election.

Although he has been in this position since March 2025 due to Justin Trudeau stepping down, he now holds the title through the public vote, after fighting off competition from the opposing Conservative Party which was led by Pierre Poilievre.

The moment in Canadian history becomes even more impressive when you consider Mark has no previous election experience but it seems his strong opinions on Donald Trump and keeping America and Canada separate shot him to victory.

• READ MORE: UK and EU to sign ‘free and open trade’ declaration amid Donald Trump's tariff war
• READ MORE: From tariffs to Tesla and Greenland to Gaza: Trump's first 100 days in office

Here's everything you need to know about new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney from his background, career, policies and even his family life with his wife and children.

Who is the new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney?

Born on March 16th, 1965, Mark arrived into the world in Fort Smith but was raised in Edmonton, Albert. His parents, Robert and Verlie, were both teachers and worked in the education sector. His grandparents were also Irish meaning he has Irish and Canadian citizenship.

Mark also has a British citizenship but plans to relinquish it along with his Irish as he believes the PM should only hold Canadian citizenship.

He went to school at Harvard University where he had a scholarship for economics before going on to earn a PhD in the same subject at Oxford University.

Outside of school work he enjoyed ice hockey.

What was Mark Carney's career before becoming prime minister?

He began, like many, in the private sector before joining the Bank of Canada as deputy governor in 2003. In 2007 he was promoted to governor and was forced to tackle one of the country's most difficult recessions.

In 2013, he came to London and served as a governor for the Bank of England where he stayed until 2020. He was the first non-British person to hold such a rank since it was founded.

During his career in England, he tackled the financial chaos that Brexit brought as well as David Cameron stepping down as PM.

In 2020, Mark moved jobs and began serving at the United Nations envoy on finance and climate. He also joined the board of Brookfield Asset Management and was chair of the Bloomberg board.

Mark officially joined politics in 2025 when he launched his bid for the Liberal leadership.

What are Mark Carney's policies?

Having held the title of Prime Minister since March 2016, Mark has made it clear he doesn't agree with Donald Trump's idea of making Canada America's 51st state.

When he accepted the PM role in March, he said: "America is not Canada. And Canada never, ever will be part of America in any way, shape or form." He also responded to Trump's tariffs with "purpose and force".

Elsewhere, Mark Carney is a huge advocate for environmental sustainability. He also wants to speed up some projects which will help make the country a "clean and conventional" energy superpower. Mark also states that growing Canada's economy is his biggest mission.

Who are Mark Carney's wife and children?

In 1994, Mark married his wife Diana who he met at Oxford University. They first bonded over their love of ice hockey but she too is an economist. Diana is also an author.

Mark has four daughters with his wife - Cleo, Tess, Amelia and Sasha.