OTTAWA — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed former federal minister Chrystia Freeland as an adviser on economic development on Monday.
Freeland has long expressed her support for Ukraine during its war with Russia, and has said the country could become an economic juggernaut by taking up the opportunities it missed after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In a post on social media Monday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs to strengthen what he called its “internal resilience.”
“Chrystia is highly skilled in these matters and has extensive experience in attracting investment and implementing economic transformations,” he said.
“Right now, Ukraine needs to strengthen its internal resilience — both for the sake of Ukraine’s recovery if diplomacy delivers results as swiftly as possible, and to reinforce our defence if, because of delays by our partners, it takes longer to bring this war to an end.”
The Canadian Press has reached out to Freeland’s office, the Prime Minister’s Office and the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner, for comment but none have yet responded.
A source who is close to Freeland but is not working for her in an official capacity confirmed on her behalf that Zelenskyy offered her this unpaid role on Dec. 22 while she was in Kyiv, and that Freeland told Prime Minister Mark Carney about the offer on Dec. 24.
The source said Freeland has been in touch with the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner about the job and described those conversations as “positive.”
Freeland, who has Ukrainian ancestry, was a cabinet minister and deputy prime minister in Justin Trudeau’s government, and was named transport minister by Carney when he was sworn in last year.
On Sept. 16, Freeland announced she would be leaving cabinet, and later that same day Carney named her as a parliamentary secretary, with the newly created title of Canada’s special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
She also still represents the federal riding of University—Rosedale in Toronto as a member of Parliament.
Her appointment comes as Carney meets in Paris with other allies of Ukraine in a bid to end Russia’s war on the country.
Canada has contributed more than $23.5 billion to Ukraine in military, economic and humanitarian support since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Michael Chong, Conservative foreign affairs critic, said Freeland needs to choose between being a MP and working for Zelenskyy.
“One cannot be a Canadian MP and an adviser to a foreign government. She must do one or the other. She should resign as adviser or as MP for University—Rosedale,” Chong said on the social media platform X.
Laryssa Waler, CEO of Toronto-based Henley Strategies and a staunch Ukraine supporter, said Freeland’s decision to take this position while still an MP crossed a clear line.
The self-described Conservative partisan said while she “100 per cent supports” Ottawa’s contributions to Ukraine, the timing of this announcement gives Ukraine’s critics a new angle of attack on the government’s motives.
“They’re giving fodder to people on the extreme left and the extreme right to take shots at Ukraine and to question the intentions of our government, and to question why are we helping Ukraine. Now, it looks like we did it to get Chrystia Freeland a job,” she said.
Waler, who has been sanctioned by Russia, said Freeland should have waited until after her retirement from politics to accept this position.
Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, said in an emailed statement Freeland should have resigned before accepting this role.
“While it is technically legal to serve another government while being an MP because of loopholes in Canada’s official oaths and foreign interference laws, it is a conflict of interest that clearly violates the federal government ethics law, and so Chrystia Freeland should have resigned as an MP before taking on this position,” Conacher said.
He argued that this position goes against wording in the act that bars cabinet members and parliamentary secretaries from using their power to advance another person or organization’s private interests.
Other Conservative MPs, including Ontario’s Roman Baber and B.C.’s Todd Doherty, said Freeland’s acceptance of this position puts her in a conflict of interest.
“To be clear, (Freeland) is still a sitting member of Parliament. Not only did she lack the decency to resign her seat, this is a blatant conflict of interest. Liberals get away with everything!” Baber wrote in a post on X.
While Canada’s Conflict of Interest Act cites several things cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries are not allowed to do — such as engaging in outside professions or employment — it does not include specific language about advising a foreign head of government. MPs are not covered by this act, but Freeland would be covered in her role as a parliamentary secretary.
This latest appointment comes after Freeland was named the incoming CEO of the Rhodes Trust, an Oxford, England-based educational charity.
The charity is famous for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship that offers students from around the world a chance to study at the University of Oxford.
Freeland is relocating to Oxford for the new position, with a start date of July 1.
Freeland has not formally announced any plans to resign as a member of Parliament, but has said she will not run in the next election.
She has been seen only seldom in the House of Commons since leaving cabinet but has continued to take part in votes remotely.
Freeland’s social media shows she spent much of the fall and early winter travelling between Toronto, Ukraine and other European nations as part of her duties as Canada’s representative on the reconstruction of Ukraine.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 5, 2026.
— With files from Kyle Duggan.
David Baxter, The Canadian Press
