Quick Sketch: Meet Liberal leadership candidate Karina Gould

OTTAWA - As Liberals across the country vote to choose Canada's next prime minister on March 9, candidate Karina Gould is pitching herself as the face of "a new generation of leadership."

At 37, she's the youngest contender in the race and the millennial mom says she's the best candidate to rebuild and restore Canadians' faith in the party.

Born: June 28, 1987, in Burlington, Ont.

Early years: Gould grew up in Burlington with three younger brothers and developed a strong interest in community activism and volunteering. She joined the Liberal party when she was 14 years old.

Her mom was a veterinarian and she grew up working in the family business.

Gould got interested in politics when she was eight years old and was in French immersion during the 1995 Quebec referendum. Gould said she was passionate about bilingualism and was worried about Canada breaking up.

A few years later, after reaching out to her member of Parliament, she learned about and took part in the Forum for Young Canadians program. That's where she discovered that she wanted to work on Parliament Hill.

Gould studied political science and Latin American and Caribbean studies at McGill University and international relations at Oxford University. During her time at McGill, Gould was the president of the student-run organization representing the faculty of arts and organized a $20,000 fundraising campaign for victims of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

She has volunteered locally for the Iroquoia Bruce Trail Club, the Burlington chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women, the Mississauga Furniture Bank and Halton Women’s Place, a local women's shelter.

Career history: Before campaigning for public office, Gould worked for the Mexican Trade Commission in Toronto and did consulting for the Migration and Development Program at the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C.

She also spent a year volunteering at an orphanage in Mexico.

Gould was swept into government in the wave that brought Justin Trudeau his first majority mandate in 2015. During the campaign, she briefly caused a controversy for Trudeau's campaign over an old Twitter post, which she later deleted. It said, “It’s time to landlock Alberta’s tarsands."

She's been in office for nearly a decade and claims some notable firsts. She became the youngest woman to serve as a federal cabinet minister and the first federal minister to give birth while in office. In 2018, she became the first cabinet member to go on maternity leave.

Within the Liberal party, she is known for getting the national child care program over the finish line.

Gould first joined cabinet as minister for democratic institutions in 2017, taking over the problem-plagued role from Maryam Monsef after the Liberal government abandoned its campaign promise to usher in electoral reform. Gould later served as minister for international development and minister of families.

In July 2023, she became government House leader, taking on a key senior role and managing the government's agenda in the House of Commons — something that greatly raised her profile in the media.

Key policies: She has committed to spending two per cent of national GDP on defence — by, among other things, increasing Canadian Armed Forces salaries — removing GST from children’s clothing, diapers, strollers and car seats, and pausing increases to the carbon tax.

Endorsements: Pam Damoff, MP for Oakville North-Burlington; Lisa Hepfner, Hamilton Mountain Liberal MP; and Ya'ara Saks, MP for York Centre and minister of mental health and addictions.

Family: She is married to Alberto Gerones; they met in Mexico. They have a son, Oliver, and a daughter, Taya. They also have a cat named Peaches.

Her grandparents arrived in Canada from Czechoslovakia after surviving the Holocaust and worked as apple farmers in rural Ontario. Gould said she is proud of her Jewish heritage and is raising her kids to celebrate Jewish traditions.

Quote: "Now is the time for hope, I am the leader we need and together we can build the Canada we want."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2025.