Updated: February 16, 2026 at 11:07AM EST
Published: February 16, 2026 at 10:35AM EST
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney has chosen Janice Charette, the former head of the public service, to serve as the country’s chief trade negotiator to the United States.
Charette is a career bureaucrat who twice served as clerk of the Privy Council and once as high commissioner to the United Kingdom.
Janice Charette appears as a witness at the Foreign Interference Commission in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby Janice Charette appears as a witness at the Foreign Interference Commission in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
Her appointment comes just ahead of a major review of the North American free-trade pact, known as the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement.
It also comes a day after Mark Wiseman, a global investment banker and pension fund manager, took the reins as Canada’s next ambassador to Washington.
Canada’s last ambassador to the United States, Kirsten Hillman, recently stepped down so a fresh team could be assembled to take on the review of the trade pact.
U.S. President Donald Trump has slammed Canada with tariffs in key sectors over the past year and is expected to adopt a hardball approach during the coming CUSMA review.
By Kyle Duggan
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2026.