OTTAWA — Mark Carney will be sworn in officially as prime minister and reveal the makeup of his first cabinet Friday morning — a team one government source said will not include Jean-Yves Duclos.
The source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, told The Canadian Press that Duclos was informed Thursday that he will no longer be minister of public services and procurement or the Liberal party's Quebec lieutenant.
In a social media post Thursday evening, Carney said he was "building a government that will deliver what our country needs most."
The ministers now playing key roles in Canada's response to U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war are expected to be part of Carney's cabinet, including Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Public Safety Minister David McGuinty.
Champagne appeared to confirm some of that accidentally in a news conference from Washington with LeBlanc Thursday night, when asked about whether the shuffle or expected election will impact the negotiations with the U.S.
"We will still be ministers during that period, or at least we'll see tomorrow," he said, prompting LeBlanc's eyes to widen in surprise.
"Oh, oh, oof, that was a mistake," LeBlanc quipped.
Champagne shrugged off any sense he had broken protocol about announcing cabinet decisions ahead of time.
"No, no, no, there's a good chance," he said.
The two ministers were to return to Ottawa Thursday night in time for Friday's swearing in. Joly, who is in Charlevoix, Que., for the G7 foreign ministers meeting also must find her way back to Ottawa before 11 a.m. Friday to maintain her role.
Duclos, who has been a member of cabinet since 2015, is already nominated to run in the next federal election.
In a statement issued Thursday evening, Duclos didn't confirm that he won't be in cabinet but said he would now be able to devote "even more energy and time" to his work as an MP.
Duclos said he looks forward to working with Carney and that the incoming prime minister has his "full confidence and gratitude."
Duclos is likely not the only minister from Justin Trudeau's cabinet who will not be invited to Friday's 11 a.m. swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall.
"I think the signals have been coming forward that it will be a smaller cabinet," said Susan Smith, a Liberal commentator and the co-founder of Bluesky Strategy Group.
Trudeau's last cabinet had 37 members, including Trudeau himself.
A senior Liberal source said Karina Gould, who left her role as government House leader in January to seek the Liberal leadership, will not be included in Carney's cabinet.
Michael Wernick, the former clerk of the privy council, said in a recent interview that he expects several ministers will be "double-hatting," or carrying more than one portfolio, for the time being.
Some portfolios could be combined to reflect their departments.
The Heritage Department, for example, is home to five ministers responsible for heritage, sport, official languages, women and gender equality, and diversity, inclusion and persons with disabilities. Employment and Social Development Canada has six ministers.
Smith said the decisions Carney makes public on Friday will send a signal about where he wants to take the country.
"I think in this case it will be possible to signal both stability and a change in economic direction," she said.
During the leadership race, rival candidate and former finance minister Chrystia Freeland said she would offer Carney the position of finance minister in her government if she won. Carney hasn't made any such promises publicly.
A report from Radio-Canada on Thursday said Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault would be removed from his portfolio. He refused to confirm that report for reporters at a news conference in Montreal on Thursday.
"It remains the prime minister’s prerogative to decide who will or will not serve in his cabinet," Guilbeault said.
Guilbeault cited his track record, saying he thinks the government made historic progress on nature conservation and the fight against plastic pollution.
"I think we’ve truly changed the conversation in Canada on these issues in recent years," he said.
Guilbeault and the Trudeau government's environment policies were deeply unpopular in parts of Western Canada. Smith said moving him out of the environment portfolio would send "a huge message to the country, in particular to the energy sector — both the renewable energy and the traditional energy sector — that Mr. Carney's going to take a different approach, I think a more proactive and a more business approach."
Eight ministers from Trudeau's cabinet have said they won't run in the next election, and are unlikely to be on Carney's team.
They include Health Minister Mark Holland — who announced his plans not to run again late Thursday — Justice Minister Arif Virani, Women and Gender Equality and Youth Minister Marci Ien, Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings, Trade Minister Mary Ng, Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan, Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge and Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay.
Agriculture has gained prominence lately as Trump takes aim at Canada's supply management system in the trade war.
Smith said MacAulay's departure creates an opening to add a minister from Alberta — something that also would send a signal that Carney's approach will be different.
This cabinet is almost certainly an interim cabinet that will be replaced after the spring election. Carney said during the leadership race that he will likely call an election before March 24, the date Parliament is set to resume.
When the election campaign begins, the federal government will go into what's known as caretaker mode. Cabinet ministers and the prime minister will retain their posts throughout the campaign.
If the Liberals win the election, Carney will be sworn in again. If they lose, he will resign and the winner will be invited to form a government.
The convention ensures the core functions of government keep operating during an election campaign.
Cabinet can make decisions about responding to the U.S. tariffs during the campaign, for example. It can also spend money under existing laws.
The guidelines published by the Privy Council Office before the 2021 election state that a government in caretaker mode should, to the extent possible, restrict itself to matters that are "routine, or non-controversial, or urgent and in the public interest, or reversible by a new government without undue cost or disruption, or agreed to by opposition parties."
The caretaker convention means that "it is incumbent upon a government to act with restraint during an election period."
Cabinet ministers must also take care to distinguish between their government work and partisan activities on the campaign trail, the PCO guidance says.
— With files from Sébastien Auger in Montreal
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2025.
Sarah Ritchie and Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press