OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed Chrystia Freeland as Canada’s new special envoy for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

While Freeland announced her resignation as transport minister on social media today, she will remain in the House of Commons as an MP until the next election.

She left today’s regular cabinet meeting smiling and talking with Carney, but neither answered questions from reporters stationed outside the room.

Freeland has been one of the most prominent government advocates for Ukraine on the world stage, and spearheaded efforts to seize Russian financial holdings in the West and use them to fund Kyiv’s defence.

She attended a conference in Kyiv this past weekend on how to end the full-scale war Russia launched in 2014.

Freeland shook up Canadian politics late last year when she resigned as finance minister, a major blow that led to Justin Trudeau’s resignation as prime minister in January.

— With files from Dylan Robertson

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2025.