By Blessing Nweke
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Monday that veteran financier Mark Wiseman will become Canada’s next ambassador to the United States, a high-stakes appointment as the two countries prepare for sensitive trade negotiations and a review of their free trade pact.
Wiseman, 55, will assume the role on Feb. 15 and join Canada’s core negotiating team as Ottawa engages Washington ahead of the 2026 review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The trade deal, negotiated during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term, includes a clause allowing for renegotiation, raising uncertainty for businesses on both sides of the border.
“Mark Wiseman brings immense experience, contacts, and deep commitment at this crucial time of transformation of our relationship with the United States,” Carney said in a statement, adding that Wiseman will help advance the interests of Canadian workers, businesses and institutions.
Wiseman replaces Ambassador Kirsten Hillman, who announced her resignation earlier this month as Canada and the United States brace for complex talks on tariffs, market access and supply chains.
A longtime figure in global finance, Wiseman previously ran the investment fund of the Canada Pension Plan and managed equity funds at the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. In 2016, he became senior managing director and global head of active equities at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, where he was once viewed as a potential successor to CEO Larry Fink. His tenure ended in 2019 after he failed to disclose a consensual relationship with a colleague. He later became chair of the Alberta Investment Management Corp.
Wiseman is also a close associate of Carney, who led the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013 and the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020.
The appointment comes after a turbulent period in bilateral relations. In October, Trump suspended tariff negotiations following an anti-tariff advertisement by Ontario, after months of tension sparked by his suggestion that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.
The economic stakes remain enormous. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states, with nearly C$3.6 billion (US$2.7 billion) in goods and services crossing the border daily. Canada supplies about 60% of U.S. crude oil imports, 85% of electricity imports, and is the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium, as well as a key source of critical minerals vital to U.S. national security
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