Justin Trudeau's life after politics: Shopping at Canadian Tire, dating Katy Perry... and those sneakers
There were several clear signs that many Canadians were growing tired of Justin Trudeau as prime minister and Liberal leader as fall turned to winter in 2024.
He’d lost a pair of byelections and the support of the NDP , was facing mounting dissent within his own caucus , and watched as his approval ratings plunged and Pierre Poilievre’s soared. Things turned from bad to worse when long-time senior minister Chrystia Freeland abruptly resigned , citing policy friction with Trudeau.
The already beleaguered prime minister was even told to “please get the f— out of B.C.” by a woman who recognized him at a ski resort last Christmas. (Trudeau replied with a chuckle and wished the woman “a wonderful day.”)
Suffice it to say, there were plenty of red flags and Trudeau, to his credit, seemed to notice them. He tendered his resignation in January and handed the reins to Mark Carney in March.
And while other past prime ministers have largely quietly exited the spotlight to seek out whatever degree of a private citizen’s life is available to them, nine months after his departure, Trudeau can’t seem to stay out of the limelight.
But unlike those prime ministers before him who found “fame,” per se, through their tenure as the head of government, Trudeau has been famous since birth.
“When he was born, this was like the biggest front page news in the country,” Nelson Wiseman, political science professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, told National Post in an interview.
“Whereas normally, I think it would have been noted, it wouldn’t have been as big a thing as it was because not only was he the son of Pierre Trudeau, around which a mystique had already developed, but Trudeau’s wife was so young.”
The late Trudeau and former prime minister was 51 when he married the 22-year-old Margaret Sinclair in 1971 and Justin, their first of three children together, was born on Christmas Day that year.
He spent most of his early youth living at 24 Sussex Drive and accompanied his father, often with brothers Alexandre “Sacha” and Michel, to various events and appearances, forcing all of them into the public eye.
After a low-key adolescence and early adulthood thanks to his father’s departure from office in 1984, he returned to the public eye in his late 20s when he delivered the eulogy for his father in 2000 .
By 2008, and despite previously telling CTV in 1995 that he would never enter politics , he ran and was narrowly elected for the first time in Montreal. The rest is Canadian history as the 44-year-old former school teacher became the nation’s second-youngest prime minister in 2015 and the first sired by a previous prime minister. (His father’s brief successor, Joe Clark, became the youngest at 39 in 1979, but served less than a year before his Progressive Conservative government was defeated by the elder Trudeau in 1980.)
His inherited fame is a view also endorsed by Acadia political science professor Alex Marland, who says to understand Trudeau “is to look at him first and foremost as a celebrity.”
“Once you look at him as a celebrity, you start to understand him in a very different way than other prime ministers, other politicians,” Marland told National Post.
Whereas other prime ministers were “just another citizen” before being elected to the highest office in Canada, Trudeau’s “normal is as a celebrity.”
Marland, without opining on the specifics, added that some of the things that have put Trudeau back in the headlines since his somewhat unceremonious exit “are consistent with that theory.”
The Monday after Carney’s ascension, Trudeau took a trip to Canadian Tire to shop for utensils and appliances, sharing his outing on Instagram , one of the social media platforms he had strategically embraced throughout his political career.
While his predecessor, Stephen Harper, governed during the advent of social media, it wasn’t a tool employed by the Conservatives at the time.
“There was never anybody that he ran into that he wasn’t willing to take a selfie with,” Wiseman said of Trudeau. “In fact, a relative of mine has a selfie of herself and him — I’m not even sure she’s a Liberal.”
Outside of campaigning for his replacement in Papineau, Que., Trudeau was mostly off the radar post-politics until he showed up to King Charles II’s throne speech in May wearing a pair of green and orange Adidas sneakers with his two-piece suit. The casual attire in the presence of royalty reportedly led to some “outrage” in the U.K.
In the weeks that followed, he shared images from individual vacations he took with the three children he shares with ex-wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau — Xavier, 18, Ella Grace, 16, and Hadrien, 11.
Since their separation after 18 years of marriage in 2023, the former couple appear to have maintained a co-parenting relationship, even vacationing and spending some holidays together, including as recently as this Thanksgiving.
Amidst those moments, however, came an event that could not have been on anyone’s 2026 Bingo card: Trudeau and Grammy-nominated international pop star Katy Perry were spotted having dinner together at Le Violon, a swanky Montreal restaurant. He also accompanied his daughter to Perry’s sold-out show at the Bell Centre.
The July revelation followed up with more Trudeau and Perry sightings : kissing atop her yacht in a California harbour, a date caught by Paris paparazzi and Trudeau joining her on tour in Europe.
They became “Instagram official” in early December when Perry shared photos and video of herself and Trudeau in Tokyo , where her world tour just ended. On the same trip, the pair dined with former Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida and his wife, Yuko.
Marland reasons Trudeau’s inherent celebrity status will mean the interest may never wane.
“When we see a photograph of him having dinner with an American pop singer in Montreal, is that because he made it known that he was there? Or is that because he actually wanted his privacy,” he pondered.
It’s not clear if Trudeau and his ex-wife spent time together this Christmas 2025. He shared a single photo with the kids on his social media, while Grégoire Trudeau shared an image of herself staring into a sunse t in a post that mentions neither Trudeau nor her children.
“I welcome this new year the way I welcome the horizon — with trust, open arms, and a heart that knows its own rhythm,” she wrote “I’m choosing presence over pressure, depth over noise, and the quiet courage it takes to stay true to myself.”
Professionally speaking, Trudeau hasn’t had nearly as much scrutiny as he has personally and romantically.
He said nothing of his post-political intentions in his resignation speech , nor in the one he delivered at the Liberal leadership convention , but he did offer some candid insight in a 2023 interview with Quebec news station Noovo.
“I see myself working with young people, going back to teaching or as a professor in university, a speaker, maybe on technology in relation to our democracy,” he said when asked specifically about life after public office.
“I’m excited for the next chapter, but not right away.”
Not unlike other politicians before him, part of that involves speaking engagements and Trudeau is represented by the Speaker Booking Agency, which quotes his in-person appearances starting at $100,000 .
It’s not immediately clear how many he’s booked through the firm, but his first known and documented speech came when he delivered the keynote address at the 26th World Knowledge Forum in September. About a month later, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs awarded him the 2025 Global Leader honours.
It was an honour to be recognized by The Chicago Council on Global Affairs as the 2025 Global Leader. Sharing this moment with so many inspiring leaders from Chicago and around the world was truly special. The Council’s work to bring people together across borders, ideas, and… pic.twitter.com/XxrHAJJtn2
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 30, 2025
As for what his “next chapter” will include, Wiseman said Trudeau is unique in that he’s still a relatively young man, making him the youngest at time of departure (53) since Arthur Meighen in 1926. (John Sparrow David Thompson, Canada’s fourth prime minister, was just 49 when his term ended in 1894.)
Harper, meanwhile, was only 56 when he was voted out of office on Trudeau’s first majority win as Liberal leader in 2015, but the former prime minister was anything but a media darling during his two terms.
Marland said Harper is the only modern leader to whom Trudeau can be compared, but there’s a huge contrast between the two.
“Harper really didn’t seem to enjoy the camera, even when he was prime minister. He was far more interested in policy and almost used the media when he needed to,” he said.
“The same thing has happened when he’s out of power, that he’s really not appearing a lot in the news. It’s much more selective and careful.”
After leaving office, Harper returned to Alberta, where he launched a global strategic business consulting firm, co-founded an investment fund, chaired various organizations, and did speaking engagements around the world, according to the province.
Wiseman isn’t convinced Trudeau will follow suit.
“My feeling is that Trudeau doesn’t need the money and he doesn’t care that much about that,” he suggested.
While Trudeau’s precise net worth is unclear, he stands to make up to $8.4 million in pension payments, according to the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation.
Other past prime ministers who’ve pivoted to consulting include Jean Chrétien, Brian Mulroney and Trudeau’s father, all of whom did so at law firms.
Whatever Trudeau chooses to do with his time in the years to come, Marland doesn’t think a normal life is in the cards.
“It was already done for him,” he said. “He could never ever be just another citizen.”
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