François-Philippe Champagne

François-Philippe Champagne (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa filip ʃɑ̃paɲ]; born June 25, 1970) is a Canadian politician who has been Minister of Finance since March 14, 2025. A member of the Liberal Party, Champagne was elected to the House of Commons in the 2015 election, serving as the member of Parliament (MP) for Saint-Maurice—Champlain.

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne PC MP
Champagne in 2024
Minister of Finance
Incumbent
Assumed office March 14, 2025
Prime Minister	Mark Carney
Preceded by	Dominic LeBlanc
Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
In office January 12, 2021 – March 14, 2025
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Navdeep Bains
Succeeded by	Anita Anand
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office November 20, 2019 – January 12, 2021
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Chrystia Freeland
Succeeded by	Marc Garneau
Minister of Infrastructure and Communities
In office July 18, 2018 – November 20, 2019
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Amarjeet Sohi
Succeeded by	Catherine McKenna
Minister of International Trade
In office January 10, 2017 – July 18, 2018
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Chrystia Freeland
Succeeded by	Jim Carr
Member of Parliament for Saint-Maurice—Champlain
Incumbent
Assumed office October 19, 2015
Preceded by	Lise St-Denis
Personal details
Born	(1970-06-25) June 25, 1970 (age 54) Greenfield Park, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Residence	Shawinigan[1]
Alma mater	Université de Montréal Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Profession	Lawyer Businessman

Champagne joined Cabinet in 2017 when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named him to be the minister of international trade. He then served as the minister of infrastructure and communities from 2018 to 2019 before becoming the minister of foreign affairs. In 2021, he became minister of innovation science and industry. Prime Minister Mark Carney selected Champagne to be finance minister after taking office in 2025.

Early life

Champagne was born in Greenfield Park, Quebec, Canada on June 25, 1970, and raised in Shawinigan, Quebec.^[2][3] He studied law at the Université de Montréal and Case Western Reserve University School of Law. After several years working as a senior attorney for Elsag Bailey Process Automation, he joined ABB Group in 1999, eventually rising to group vice president and senior counsel. In 2008, he joined Amec PLC as a strategic development director, and was designated a "young global leader" by the World Economic Forum. Following his return to Canada, he became involved in a variety of business and non-profit ventures.

Political career

In an interview with The Globe and Mail in London, 2009, Champagne expressed his desire to eventually return to Canada and enter politics, citing fellow Shawinigan resident Jean Chrétien as an inspiration.^[4] Ahead of the 2015 Canadian federal election, he was nominated as the Liberal candidate in Saint-Maurice—Champlain, a riding represented at the time by New Democratic-turned-Liberal MP Lise St-Denis, and was elected to Parliament on October 19, 2015.^[5]

After his election in 2015, Champagne was appointed as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Finance until 2017, when he was appointed Minister of International Trade.^[6]

Minister of Infrastructure and Communities (2018–2019)

In 2018, Champagne was named Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, and oversaw the federal government’s $187 billion infrastructure investment plan.

Minister of Foreign Affairs (2019–2021)

In November 2019, Champagne became Minister of Foreign Affairs, taking the helm of Trudeau's foreign policy.

In June 2020, it was reported that Champagne had two more mortgages with the state-owned Bank of China, raising questions of potential vulnerability to foreign influence.^[7]

Champagne welcomed Trump's peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates as a positive and historic step toward a peaceful and secure Middle East, adding Canada was gladdened by suspension of Israel's plans to annex parts of the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank.^[8]

Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry (2021–2025)

In the 2021 Canadian cabinet shuffle, Champagne was moved out of the foreign affairs portfolio, and became Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.^[9] Champagne was characterized by Politico in 2023 as "Trudeau's pitchman" for a global audience, tasked with luring would-be foreign investment in the United States to instead invest in Canada. His efforts were credited with enticing Volkswagen to construct a gigafactory in Canada rather than the U.S., a first for the company outside of Europe.^[10]

In 2024, he suggested that the Competition Bureau should scrutinize Big Tech companies' activities in the payments sector. Champagne highlighted competition-related concerns associated with Apple and Google's digital wallet services.^[11]

Champagne was widely considered to be a possible candidate in the 2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, following the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.^[12][13] He later announced that he would not enter the leadership race to focus on defending Canadians from the threat of tariffs of the second Trump administration.^[14] On January 16, he endorsed former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney.^[15]

Minister of Finance (2025–present)

Personal life

Champagne is trilingual, speaking English, French and Italian.^[4]

Electoral record

v t e 2025 Canadian federal election: Saint-Maurice—Champlain
The 2025 general election will be held on April 28.
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Pierre-Augustin Allard
	Bloc Québécois	Thierry Bilodeau
	Liberal	François-Philippe Champagne
	Rhinoceros	Dji-Pé Frazer
	New Democratic	Nathalie Garceau
	Green	Marie-Claude Gaudet
	People's	David Rioux
Total valid votes/expense limit
Total rejected ballots
Turnout
Eligible voters
Source: Elections Canada[16]

v t e 2019 Canadian federal election: Saint-Maurice—Champlain
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	François-Philippe Champagne	23,104	39.55	-1.97	$101,231.55
	Bloc Québécois	Nicole Morin	19,950	34.15	+14.99	$4,638.18
	Conservative	Bruno-Pier Courchesne	9,542	16.33	+0.06	none listed
	New Democratic	Barthélémy Boisguérin	3,071	5.26	-15.51	none listed
	Green	Stéphanie Dufresne	1,809	3.10	+1.16	none listed
	People's	Julie Déziel	938	1.61	–	none listed
Total valid votes/expense limit			58,414	100.0
Total rejected ballots			1,307	2.19
Turnout			59,721	65.20
Eligible voters			91,594
	Liberal hold		Swing		-8.48
Source: Elections Canada[17][18]

2015 Canadian federal election: Saint-Maurice—Champlain
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	François-Philippe Champagne	24,475	41.52	+30.59	$107,029.87
	New Democratic	Jean-Yves Tremblay	12,245	20.77	−20.51	$29,855.51
	Bloc Québécois	Sacki Carignan Deschamps	11,295	19.16	−9.31	$32,567.29
	Conservative	Jacques Grenier	9,592	16.27	−0.86	$49,358.13
	Green	Martial Toupin	1,144	1.94	−0.09	$3,832.69
	Marxist–Leninist	Jean-Paul Bédard	196	0.33	–	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			58,947	100.0		$269,923.91
Total rejected ballots			1,175	–	–
Turnout			60,122	–	–
Eligible voters			92,086
Source: Elections Canada[19][20]