Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman said Tuesday she will be leaving her diplomatic post in the new year, after serving as the top envoy representing Canada in Washington, D.C., since 2020.
Hillman this year has helped lead the on-and-off, sometimes tense negotiations for a new trade deal with the Trump administration.
“I look forward to coming home and sharing more about my next steps,” she said in a statement posted on X.
Hillman said she has informed Prime Minister Mark Carney of her decision.
“Most recently, as the Canada-U.S. relationship is being rewritten, I have been deeply grateful for Prime Minister Carney’s strong leadership and for the confidence that he has placed in me,” she wrote in her statement.
“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 CUSMA review through its conclusion.”
The Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on free trade (CUSMA) is scheduled to be reviewed next summer.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
U.S. President Donald Trump has recently spoken about his openness to letting the trade pact “expire” or replace it with new agreements with Canada and Mexico.
Hillman helped lead the negotiations that created CUSMA, which replaced the earlier North American Free Trade Agreement during Trump’s first term, before she was named ambassador.
She said “nothing was more personal to me” during her tenure than working with her counterparts in the U.S. and China to secure the release of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig from Chinese detention in 2021, nearly three years after they were imprisoned.
Carney thanked Hillman for her “invaluable counsel” and years of service in a statement released by his office.
“Ambassador Hillman’s intelligence, determined action and diplomacy have contributed immensely to the advancement of a new economic and security relationship with the United States — and prepared the foundations for Canada in the upcoming review of CUSMA,” he said.
“As one of the longest-serving ambassadors to the United States in our history, her wide-ranging and constructive engagement with all branches of the U.S. government as well as with leaders across America and Canada have yielded crucial results for Canadians.”
Trump in October cut off trade negotiations with Canada over an Ontario government-funded ad campaign that criticized his tariff policies, claiming they misquoted former U.S. president Ronald Reagan.
Trump administration officials later said that “the Canadians have been very difficult to negotiate with,” and that U.S. frustrations had “built up over time.”
The negotiations had been focused on reducing tariffs on certain sectors like steel, aluminum and energy before they were suspended. Canadian officials had said talks would shift to additional sectors like autos and lumber after initial deals were secured.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
