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As Trudeau closes this chapter in his political career, as Liberal party leader and prime minister, here鈥檚 the legacy he鈥檚 leaving behind, from the highs to the lows.

His early career and first election

Since birth, Trudeau鈥檚 life has revolved around politics. He was born during his father鈥檚 first tenure in office and was just a young boy as Pierre Trudeau oversaw key moments in Canadian history, including the 1980 Quebec referendum and the patriation of the Constitution.

The younger Trudeau was just 12 when his father took his fabled 鈥渨alk in the snow,鈥� deciding to step down while facing a substantial deficit in the polls against future Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney.听

Trudeau faced a pair of family tragedies in quick succession as a young man 鈥� first the death of his younger brother Michel in 1998 and the death of his father in 2000.听

He steadily became more involved in politics, until he finally entered the foray in 2007, successfully winning the Liberal nomination for Papineau.

鈥淚 am carrying the Trudeau name, yes. I am also carrying my own name,鈥� Trudeau told reporters after his nomination.

Trudeau won the seat in 2008, defeating a Bloc Qu茅b茅cois incumbent. Just three years into his time in Parliament, the 2011 election plummeted the Liberals to third-party status under the leadership of Michael Ignatieff, while Trudeau retained his seat.

2013 鈥� Leader of the Liberals

Ignatieff resigned shortly thereafter, replaced on an interim basis by former Ontario premier Bob Rae. Rae had mulled a leadership bid of his own, but bowed out, paving the way for Trudeau to step into the spotlight.听

He won the leadership race handily with more than 80 per cent of the vote, defeating Joyce Murray and Martha Hall Findlay.听

鈥淟et us be clear-eyed about what we have accomplished. We have worked hard and we have had a great campaign. We are united, hopeful and resolute in our purpose,鈥� Trudeau said after his victory.听

鈥淏ut know this: we have won nothing more and nothing less than the opportunity to work even harder.鈥�

2015-16 鈥� The honeymoon phase

In the 2015 election, the new Trudeau Liberals defeated Stephen Harper鈥檚 Conservatives and kept Thomas Mulcair鈥檚 New Democrats at bay. He reduced Harper鈥檚 majority government by 67 seats, winning a majority, and was seen as part of a new generation of young, liberal leaders around the Western world, following Barack Obama in the U.S. and preceding Emmanuel Macron in France.

After he took office, Trudeau unveiled Canada鈥檚 first gender-balanced cabinet, promising a transparent government built upon 鈥渆vidence-based policy.鈥� He elevated mainstay MPs that have survived several years in Trudeau鈥檚 cabinet, including Dominic LeBlanc, M茅lanie Joly and, until recently, Chrystia Freeland.

In his first full year, Trudeau championed progressive policy 鈥� introducing a steeper tax bracket for the highest-income Canadians; remaking the Canada Child Benefit, which dramatically cut child poverty; and pouring hundreds of billions into infrastructure projects.

Also in 2016, Trudeau introduced his government鈥檚 national carbon-pricing plan, and gave provinces two years to develop their own pricing scheme or face one imposed by Ottawa.

The Trudeau government also set into motion the controversial legalization of medical assistance in dying (MAID) and the legalization of cannabis.听

Trudeau also ran on the promise of ending Canada鈥檚 first-past-the-post voting system 鈥� a promise that never came to fruition.

2017 鈥� Scandal

Justin Trudeau made it two years into office before his first major scandal. He had accepted a vacation to the private island of Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, in December 2016. Aga Khan, on top of being one of the world鈥檚 richest royals, also presided over a network of charities, including one that received millions from the Canadian government.

A scathing report by the ethics commissioner found that Trudeau had violated multiple conflict laws when he accepted the Aga Khan vacation.

鈥�(The report) makes it very clear I should have taken precautions and cleared my family vacation and dealings with the Aga Khan in advance,鈥� a contrite Trudeau said at a press conference after the report鈥檚 release. 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry I didn鈥檛.鈥�

2018 鈥� The first tariff war

The Trudeau government faced down a major spat with the U.S., when President Donald Trump launched a series of tariffs on Canadian goods after negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement stalled. Trudeau, during what he called a 鈥渢urning point鈥� for Canada-U. S. relations, retaliated with targeted tariffs of his own. At a stalemate, the two countries, as well as Mexico, renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement into the current US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

2019 鈥� The SNC-Lavalin scandal

The next scandal had much larger political consequences. In early 2019, the Globe and Mail reported that aides in Trudeau鈥檚 office had leaned on then-attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould for a deferred prosecution agreement against SNC-Lavalin amidst charges of corruption and fraud for business dealings in Libya. SNC-Lavalin had been a big political donor to the Liberals, and less so to other political parties.听

Wilson-Raybould resigned from cabinet days after the story came out and was subsequently ousted from the Liberal caucus. Shortly after, Trudeau鈥檚 principal secretary, Gerald Butts, resigned, though maintained that nobody in the prime minister鈥檚 office pressured Wilson-Raybould. Finally, then Treasury Board president Jane Philpott resigned from her post in a shocking announcement, saying she had lost confidence in the way the Trudeau government had handled the SNC-Lavalin affair.

The federal ethics watchdog found Trudeau had broken the law, reporting that the PM and his staff had leaned on Wilson-Raybould with interventions that were 鈥渢antamount to political direction.鈥�

The report dropped just a month before the start of the 2019 federal election campaign; the Liberals remained in power, but were reduced to a minority government for the first time under Trudeau鈥檚 leadership.

Another bombshell during the 2019 election 鈥� an image of Justin Trudeau dressed in blackface from 2001 鈥� surfaced, drawing worldwide condemnation. Trudeau expressed deep regret and called his own actions 鈥渞acist.鈥�

2020 鈥� The pandemic

As the world shut down amidst the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trudeau government struggled to handle the virus鈥� economic impact.听

His government rolled out a series of benefits 鈥� including the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and the Canada Emergency Student Benefit 鈥� to help steady the incomes of Canadians, and waived student loan payments.听

The federal government also oversaw increased funding for coronavirus research, international travel restrictions and self-isolation orders. And, in 2020, the Trudeau government negotiated deals with Pfizer and Moderna to secure a supply of COVID-19 vaccines.听

In the background, another political scandal rocked the Trudeau government. In August 2020, then-finance minister Bill Morneau resigned during the WE Charity scandal after it was alleged that the charity had funded two Morneau family vacations, and had ties to Trudeau鈥檚 family as well.

Trudeau was later cleared of any conflicts of interest, and Morneau was partially cleared.

2022 鈥� The trucker convoy

Resentments against the Trudeau government over pandemic lockdowns manifested themselves in the 2022 鈥淔reedom Convoy鈥� protests 鈥� what initially began as protests against a vaccination mandate for cross-border truckers that resulted in a weeks-long illegal occupation of Ottawa by hundreds of semi-trucks that blocked key streets and access points. The border-crossing city of Windsor was also subject to blockades.

The protests saw about 3,000 big rigs and other trucks, alongside tens of thousands of other protesters, converge on Ottawa that January, and then remain, disrupting day-to-day life outside Parliament.

The city of Ottawa and the provincial government each declared states of emergency near the start of February. Then, after more than two weeks of occupation, Trudeau鈥檚 government took drastic action, enacting the Emergencies Act to end the protests. It allowed the government to freeze the bank accounts of protesters and barred others from joining in.

Ottawa鈥檚 police chief later resigned over criticism of how he handled the protests. Meanwhile, Trudeau鈥檚 use of the Emergencies Act would trigger legal challenges and criticism for years onward.

2023 鈥� Personal and global turmoil

In May, special rapporteur David Johnston released his first report on foreign interference in Canadian politics, following up on allegations that China meddled in the country鈥檚 2019 and 2021 elections. The former governor general, selected by Trudeau, ruled out a public inquiry but promised to hold his own public hearings instead 鈥� sparking backlash and skepticism.

Johnston would resign from his role a month later, citing the 鈥渉ighly partisan atmosphere鈥� around his work.

In August, Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gr茅goire announced their separation after 18 years of marriage. She would open up about their separation in interviews the next year, telling Vogue: 鈥淚t takes two to tango and I think we both acknowledge that.鈥�

Later that year, Hamas-led militants carried out the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, killing nearly 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages. Israel retaliated by launching an invasion of the Gaza Strip, initiating the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.听

In response, Trudeau condemned Hamas and vowed to support Israel and its right to self-defence. His government also pledged millions in humanitarian aid to both Israel and Gaza, although he would abstain from a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire later that month.听

In December, Canada alongside Australia and New Zealand would make its first call for a ceasefire. It also supported a UN resolution calling for a 鈥渉umanitarian ceasefire鈥� in the region.

As a year-end policy drop, the government also announced the rolling out of its dental care program, fulfilling a promise that was part of its governing agreement with the NDP.听

2024 鈥� A steady decline

Last year started off rocky for Trudeau鈥檚 Liberals after the Federal Court of Appeal ruled his use of the Emergencies Act to quell the so-called 鈥淔reedom Convoy鈥� protests infringed on constitutional rights. The government vowed to appeal the decision.听

Later in 2024, the Trudeau government聽unveiled a national pharmacare program, which currently covers diabetes medication and contraceptives.

Then, in September, the NDP ended their confidence and supply agreement with the Liberals, resulting in a volley of three failed no-confidence motions in September, October and December. Despite pulling out of the deal, the NDP toppled each of the motions.

While it supported the Liberals in the first two votes, the Bloc Qu茅b茅cois eventually vowed to topple Trudeau鈥檚 party at the first opportunity after it failed to meet its demands to boost pension payments and protect supply management for dairy producers.听

The latter months of 2024 saw a wave of high-profile resignations from Trudeau鈥檚 cabinet, including Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez on Sept. 19 to run for leadership of the Quebec Liberal party and Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault on Nov. 20, following revelations that he allegedly falsely claimed to be Indigenous.

At a tense October caucus meeting, Liberal MPs confronted Trudeau on his leadership as the party slumped in the polls.

Then, on Dec. 15, Housing Minister Sean Fraser announced he will not be running in the next federal election, citing a need to spend more time with his family.

The very next day, former finance minister and deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned from cabinet, hours before she was due to deliver the fall economic statement.听

In a blunt letter posted to social media, Freeland addressed disagreements she had with Trudeau regarding costly 鈥減olitical gimmicks鈥� and revealed the prime minister had planned to pull her from the finance portfolio.听

Her departure opened the floodgates for further聽calls for Trudeau鈥檚 resignation within his own caucus as public opinion polls showed the Grits trailing far behind the Tories, led by Pierre Poilievre.

2025 鈥� Stepping down

Days before Trudeau鈥檚 resignation, the Star learned Freeland had been calling around to Liberal MPs, raising speculation from insiders that she was mulling a leadership run of her own. Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney also called dozens of Liberal MPs as he considers a leadership bid.

Around the same time, MP and former minister of public safety Marco Mendicino became the latest Liberal to announce they鈥檙e not running again; he had represented Eglinton-Lawrence since 2015.

On Jan. 6, Trudeau received approval from Governor General Mary Simon to prorogue Parliament and announced he would be stepping down as prime minister and Liberal leader.