OTTAWA — This time last year, the average Canadian might have struggled to pick Mark Carney’s face out of a crowd.
Now he’s among the most recognizable figures in the country, and was selected The Canadian Press Newsmaker of the Year for 2025 in an annual survey of newsroom editors and leaders from across the country.
The vote wasn’t even close: Carney was picked by 72 of 95 respondents.
“A year ago, we knew (Conservative Leader Pierre) Poilievre was the next prime minister and the trade war was theoretical,” said Bronwyn Beairsto, editor of Coast Reporter in Sechelt, B.C. “Mark Carney’s ascension encapsulates the swings we’ve seen across the political landscape this year.”
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s January announcement that he was going to resign set the stage for Carney’s rise to the Prime Minister’s Office.
It’s difficult to pick out a major Canadian news story since Carney’s victory in the Liberal leadership race that doesn’t involve him in some way.
His “elbows up” message in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war and threats of annexation became the central theme of an election campaign that had been shaping up to be about affordability and the Liberal record.
“Mark Carney did what Pierre Poilievre failed to recognize — seize an opportunity to capitalize on Donald Trump’s aggressive stance toward Canada,” said Dawn Walton, managing editor of CTV News Calgary.
“While the Conservative leader headed into a federal election remaining fixated on the Trudeau-era affordability issue, the newly minted Liberal leader correctly read the Canadian mood on 51st state and U.S. tariffs.”
Those trade negotiations are set to remain a major story in 2026, after Trump abruptly ended the last round of talks because he was offended by an anti-tariff TV ad paid for by the Ontario government.
The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on Free Trade, or CUSMA, will enter its mandatory review period next year.
Once in office, Carney launched a global charm offensive in an attempt to diversify Canadian trade away from the U.S. His efforts included reopening trade conversations with China and India — two countries that Canada had strained relations with under Trudeau.
Domestically, Carney has pushed for faster approval of industrial projects through the major projects office but has faced criticism from the opposition Conservatives over a lack of projects — especially pipelines — receiving the federal green light.
On that front, Carney signed a memorandum of understanding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith last month that clears a path to increased oil production and a new pipeline to the B.C. coast.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., star first baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays, came in a distant second place in The Canadian Press newsmaker survey, with eight votes.
“Being a huge Blue Jays fan, I almost wanted to vote for Vladdy, but there hasn’t been a day gone by that Mark Carney isn’t in the news cycle … good or bad,” said David Kirton, host of “Meeting Ground” on 650 CKOM in Saskatoon.
The Blue Jays’ pennant run captured the country’s imagination and united people behind the team’s first World Series appearance since their championship win in 1993.
News leaders who voted for Guerrero Jr. emphasized the way the team brought the country together as political and regional tensions were setting the stage for a potential referendum on separation in Alberta next year and renewed separatist momentum in Quebec.
Striking workers came in third place in the survey, after a year of high-profile labour disputes involving Air Canada flight attendants, Alberta teachers and postal workers.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Smith rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth place, respectively, as the high-profile premiers frequently entered the national conversation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 22, 2025.
David Baxter, The Canadian Press
