A legacy of diplomacy and determination in Canada

She was born on August 2, 1968, in Peace River, Alberta, Canada.

Her heritage traces back to Ukraine, and she is multilingual, speaking Ukrainian, English, French, Russian, and Italian proficiently.

Chrystia Freeland earned a bachelor's degree in Russian history and literature from Harvard and a master's in Slavonic studies from Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

Chrystia Freeland initiated her journalism career in Ukraine, contributing to the Financial Times, the Economist, and the Washington Post.

Freeland progressed to become the Globe and Mail's deputy editor, later managing director and consumer news editor at Reuters, and finally, editor of Thomson Reuters Digital.

Chrystia Freeland was elected for Toronto Centre in the 2013 by-election and won again in 2015 for the new University-Rosedale riding.

In 2015, Freeland became the Minister of International Trade, notably navigating negotiations for CETA and CUSMA.

Promoted to Foreign Affairs Minister in 2017, Freeland managed complex diplomatic scenarios with countries including Ukraine, Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, Venezuela, and Myanmar.

Freeland prominently condemned Russia's Crimea annexation, firmly backing Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Freeland earned numerous awards for her diplomacy, including 2018's Diplomat of the Year by Foreign Policy, 2019's Eric M. Warburg Award, and the 2020 Four Freedoms Award from the Roosevelt Foundation.

Chrystia Freeland was listed among Time magazine's 100 most influential global figures in both 2019 and 2020.

In 2019, Freeland was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, following only Anne McLellan in holding both roles.

In 2020, Freeland succeeded Bill Morneau as Finance Minister amidst a WE Charity scandal, becoming the first woman in Canada to hold this portfolio.

Freeland is often perceived as a likely successor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau within the Liberal Party.

Freeland is married to British journalist Graham Bowley from The New York Times, and they parent three children: Natalka, Halyna, and Ivan.

Post the 1939 German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, her maternal grandparents escaped Ukraine. Her mother was birthed in a US Army-managed refugee camp in Germany.

Her mother, a feminist socialist, operated the Hromada co-operative and contested as an NDP candidate in Edmonton-Strathcona in 1988.

Freeland attended United World College of the Adriatic in Italy between 1984 and 1986.

Before the Berlin Wall's fall, Freeland studied in Kyiv, Ukraine, through an exchange program.