After Kirsten Hillman announced she would be leaving her dual roles as Canada’s ambassador to and chief trade negotiator with the United States in 2026, one name emerged as the leading candidate to succeed her: Mark Wiseman. On Monday, the former high-ranking

BlackRock Inc.

executive who also ran the

Canada Pension Plan

‘s investment fund was officially handed the ambassadorship and will take a lead role in trade negotiations. Here’s what you need to know about Canada’s newly-appointed man in Washington:

Early life and education

Wiseman was born in Niagara Falls, Ont. in 1970. He received his undergraduate degree from Queen’s University before completing a joint MBA and law degree at the University of Toronto. Upon graduation, he worked as a clerk at the

Supreme Court of Canada

under Justice Beverley McLachlin, who later became Chief Justice.

Wiseman later joined New York law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, and moved to Paris to spend three years working on major mergers and acquisitions. He also holds a Master of Laws degree from Yale University, where he was a Fulbright Scholar.

Career climb in North America

Wiseman returned to Canada in 2000 and began working for Harrowston Inc., before quickly moving on to the O

ntario Teachers’ Pension Plan

(OTTP). While at the OTTP, Wiseman was responsible for the private equity fund and the co-investment program.

In 2005, Wiseman joined the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), which was in the process of replacing passive assets with new asset classes such as real estate and infrastructure. By his mid 40s, Wiseman became the chief executive of the CPPIB, a position he would hold for nearly four years.

In 2016,

Wiseman left the CPPIB

earlier than planned to become the senior managing director and global head of active equities at BlackRock Inc. in New York. He also served as BlackRock’s chair of alternative business as well as chair of its global investment committee, and there was early speculation he could be a potential successor to chief executive Larry Fink. But Wiseman was fired from BlackRock in December 2019 after he failed to disclose a consensual relationship with another employee, violating company policy.

Less than a year later, Wiseman was back in the Canadian investment scene, this time as chair of the

Alberta Investment Management Corporation

(AIMCo), where he helped stabilize the fund following a $2 billion loss. He left AIMCo in 2023.

What has he been doing lately?

Wiseman currently serves as senior advisor and chairman of Lazard Canada, a boutique investment firm founded in New Orleans, and is chairman of Alter Domus, an alternative investment and asset management firm. He is also a senior advisor to Boston Consulting Group and a board member with NOVA Chemicals.

He also serves as chair of the Century Initiative, a controversial lobbying group he co-founded with the goal of boosting Canada’s economy by bringing its population to 100 million by 2100 through immigration. (Liberal leaders have said driving Canada’s population up to 100 million is not part of its plan.)

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre recently

called Wiseman

a “corporate crony” and “longtime Liberal elite,” who only wants to drive corporate profits and housing costs up.

Connections to Carney and the Liberals

Wiseman has been described as a close friend of

Prime Minister Mark Carney.

In 2016, he was named part of the Advisory Council on Economic Growth (ACEG), which was a 14-member group of experts assembled under former finance minister Bill Morneau to advise the government on economic policy.

The idea behind the ACEG, chaired by Dominic Barton, was to provide strategic advice for sustained Canadian economic growth, focusing on areas including capital investment, innovation, talent and labour markets, trade and investment.

  • Mark Wiseman top contender for ambassador to U.S.
  • Carney congratulates Hillman as she prepares to step down

In March 2025, Carney added Wiseman to the council of advisors on Canada-U.S. relations, which former prime minister Justin Trudeau established.

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