Canada’s US ambassador Kirsten Hillman to step down after Trump halts trade talks; ex-BlackRock chairman Mark Wiseman seen as successor

Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s long-term ambassador to the United States, announced Tuesday, December 9, she will step down from her role in the new year, at a time when Ottawa prepares for a sensitive phase in its trade relationship with the United States under President Donald Trump.

In a resignation letter posted on X, Hillman said, “I have advised Prime Minister [Mark] Carney that I will be ending my tenure in the United States in the New Year. It has been the greatest privilege of my professional life to have served and represented Canada and Canadians during this critical period in Canada-U.S. relations.”



After eight years in Washington, Hillman leaves as the Carney administration deals with President Donald Trump's sudden cancellation of bilateral trade negotiations in October and gets ready for the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement review next year.

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Hillman said she will continue to support Canada’s negotiating team during the transition, noting she will “remain available” as they navigate what could be a turbulent period ahead. She added, “While there will never be a perfect time to leave, this is the right time to put a team in place that will see the [Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement] review through to its conclusion.”

Appointed formally in 2020 after serving as acting ambassador, Hillman was the first woman to hold the influential post in Washington. A seasoned trade lawyer, she played a central role in negotiating the modernized North American trade pact, known in Canada as CUSMA, which is slated for a mandatory review next year. She also previously served as Canada’s chief negotiator for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

In her letter, Hillman highlighted the 2018 detention of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in China as one of the most personal challenges of her tenure. “In a relationship as deep and complex as ours, pressing and consequential issues arise almost daily. Yet none was more personal to me than the hundreds of hours I spent with U.S. and Chinese counterparts working for the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor,” she wrote.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is weighing the appointment of a former BlackRock Inc. senior executive as Canada’s next ambassador to Washington.

Mark Wiseman, a former BlackRock executive who previously headed the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, has emerged as the leading contender for the role, reports Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the discussions. However, the outlet notes that the appointment has not yet been finalized.