Researching Justin Trudeau

Born in Ottawa, Trudeau attended Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, graduated from McGill University in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature, then in 1998 acquired a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of British Columbia. After graduating he taught French, humanities, math and drama at the secondary school level in Vancouver. Initially relocating back to Montreal in 2002 to further his studies; advocacy work related to youth and environmental issues would be his primary focus serving as chair for the youth charity Katimavik and as director of the not-for-profit Canadian Avalanche Association. In 2006, he was appointed as chair of the Liberal Party's Task Force on Youth Renewal.

After a successful campaign during the 2008 federal election, he was elected to represent the riding of Papineau in the House of Commons. He served as the Liberal Party's Official Opposition critic for youth and multiculturalism in 2009, and the following year he became critic for citizenship and immigration. In 2011, he was appointed as a critic for secondary education and sport. Trudeau won the leadership of the Liberal Party in April 2013 and led his party to victory in the 2015 federal election, moving the third-placed Liberals from 36 seats to 184 seats, the largest-ever numerical increase by a party in a Canadian federal election.

As Prime Minister, major government initiatives he undertook during his first term include legalizing recreational marijuana through the Cannabis Act; attempting Senate appointment reform by establishing the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments and establishing the federal carbon tax; while grappling with ethics investigations concerning the Aga Khan affair and later, the SNC-Lavalin affair. In foreign policy, Trudeau's government negotiated trade deals such as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and signed the Paris Agreement on climate change.

In both the 2019 federal election and the 2021 federal election, Trudeau secured mandates and minority governments although in both he lost the popular vote; in 2021 he received the lowest percentage of the national popular vote of a governing party in Canadian history. During his second term, he confronted the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, announced an assault weapons ban in response to the 2020 Nova Scotia attacks, and was cleared of wrongdoing during a third ethics investigation surrounding the WE Charity scandal. In foreign policy, he led Canada's failed 2020 bid on temporary membership of the United Nations Security Council.