Mr. Trudeau will make an announcement and answer questions from journalists outside his official residence at 10:45 a.m., his office said.
Information has been circulating since Sunday evening that Mr. Trudeau would announce his resignation imminently.
Daily life The Globe and Mail reported that the prime minister would announce he is stepping down as Liberal leader by Wednesday, the day a Liberal caucus meeting is scheduled.
Far behind the conservatives in the polls
More and more Liberal MPs are publicly calling for Mr. Trudeau’s departure, as polls continue to place the Liberals far behind the Conservatives ahead of the next federal election, which must take place no later than the fall.
Pressure on Mr. Trudeau intensified after the surprise resignation of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on December 16.
Since this shock wave, Mr. Trudeau had remained silent and thought about his future.
This weekend, the MP for London North Centre, Peter Fragiskatos, in turn asked Mr. Trudeau to leave. In an interview with the London Free Press, he argued that his voters were now overwhelmingly in favor of the Prime Minister’s resignation.
On December 29, a letter from the Atlantic Liberal caucus calling on Mr. Trudeau to resign as party leader was shared publicly by New Brunswick MP Wayne Long, who has been saying since the fall that Mr. Trudeau should resign.
On Sunday, returning to Ottawa after a holiday vacation in British Columbia, Mr. Trudeau suggested he was sticking to his usual routine, despite Liberal MPs calling on him to resign and that the three main opposition parties have all said they plan to overthrow the government at the first opportunity.
In a post on X, Mr. Trudeau argued that the Liberal government had reduced child care costs for nearly a million Canadians. “In 2025, we will continue on this momentum,” he wrote on Sunday afternoon. According to the Prime Minister’s official schedule, Mr. Trudeau is scheduled to participate in a virtual meeting of the cabinet committee responsible for Canada-U.S. relations on Monday.
A meeting of the Liberal caucus on Wednesday
Federal MPs were not expected to return to Ottawa before the start of the House of Commons on January 27. Liberal elected officials were, however, encouraged to attend the caucus meeting scheduled for Wednesday in person.
In a letter, published online by CBC News, National Liberal Caucus Chair Brenda Shanahan said that due to the short notice for the meeting, MPs will be allowed to attend virtually, but will be expected of them that they are alone in a closed confidential space, their face visible at all times on the screen.
Pressure on Mr. Trudeau to resign intensified after the surprise resignation of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on December 16.
Before the holiday break, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told The Canadian Press that Mr. Trudeau would take time to think about his future. Mr. Trudeau himself, however, has remained silent on this subject since Ms. Freeland’s resignation.
Several options for the future
That means the next few weeks in Ottawa could go several ways.
If Mr. Trudeau resigns, a provision in the constitution states that the Liberal caucus can be consulted on who will become interim leader.
Mike Crawley, who served as Liberal Party president for one term starting in 2012, noted the first decision to make would be whether to appoint an interim leader. Mr. Crawley clarified that he does not speak for the Liberal Party.
He explained that the decision would be up to the party’s board of directors, but that, “in practice, the board would certainly take into consideration a recommendation coming from the caucus.”
The party leadership must call a meeting within 27 days to establish the rules for a leadership contest. Mr Crawley believes such a meeting would likely be called “much quicker than that”.
The constitution contains no rules dictating the length of a leadership contest, although candidates must collect the necessary signatures and submit a written nomination letter to the party president at least 90 days before the vote.
Mr. Crawley noted that the current situation, in which the minority Liberal government could fall at any time, adds to the complexity of a possible leadership race.
“I envy neither the current president of the party nor the board of directors who have to consider these options, because it is difficult,” he admitted.