Federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser is set to announce Monday he won’t run in the next federal election, creating another cabinet vacancy in the Liberal government that’s expected to be filled in a shuffle as early as this week.
Two senior federal government sources tell CTV News that Fraser has been considering a run at the Nova Scotia provincial Liberal leadership. The Nova Scotia Liberals lost decisively to the Progressive Conservatives last month in the province’s election.
Fraser’s office tells CTV News that he will have more to say on his future on Monday.
Fraser was first elected as an MP for the riding of Central Nova in 2015 when the Trudeau government first came to power. After serving as a parliamentary secretary for several years under different portfolios, Fraser was appointed immigration minister following the Liberals’ 2021 election win.
As immigration minister, Fraser announced in 2022 the government’s plan to increase Canada’s annual immigration target to 500,000 by 2025, citing labour shortages as the reason for the increase. That 2025 target was scaled back this year to 395,000 – a 20 per cent drop – to help ease strains on housing and social programs.
Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Sean Fraser responds to a question during a weekly news conference, Tuesday, February 27, 2024 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Considered as a rising star internally for the federal Liberals, he was later tasked in 2023 with one of the most pressing portfolios, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his team aimed to build a budget and agenda around the issue of housing.
As housing minister, Fraser was involved in making deals under the Housing Accelerator Fund with municipalities across Canada, as well as setting a target to build 3.87 million new homes by 2031.
The news of Fraser’s departure from cabinet comes as a second push to bring former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney into cabinet is underway. The push was first reported by The Globe and Mail.
With Fraser’s announcement, there are a total of six cabinet ministers who have announced they won’t be running again for the Liberals.
In July, Newfoundland and Labrador MP Seamus O’Regan announced he was remaining an MP but stepping down as labour and seniors minister and not seeking re-election due to family reasons.
And later in October, Filomena Tassi, Carla Qualtrough, Dan Vandal and Marie-Claude Bibeau simultaneously announced they too would not be seeking re-election.
Meanwhile, in September, Quebec MP Pablo Rodriguez announced his plans to leave cabinet to run for the Quebec Liberal Party. He currently sits as an Independent MP.
Randy Boissonnault also stepped away from cabinet last month to try to clear his name amid accusations of ethical breaches.
With files from CTV News’ Vassy Kapelos and Brennan MacDonald