Outgoing Canadian ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman says a “loss in trust” among Canadians with regard to the country’s relationship with the United States won’t be easy to undo.
“I think the Canada-U.S. relationship has changed and will not go back to what it was, at least for a very long time, if ever,” Hillman said in an interview with The West Block guest host Jackson Proskow.
Hillman announced in December 2025 that she will be resigning in 2026, having held the role since March 2020, when she became the first woman to be appointed to this position.
Hillman said she believes the “level of unpredictability” is “greater now” compared with U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term.
“There are some foundational aspects of our relationship with the United States and the U.S.’s relationship with the world that are being questioned now in ways that they weren’t in the first term,” she said.
“As to how this [U.S.] government interacts with issues around Canadian sovereignty, I think that they would be wise to be very cautious and tread lightly there,” Hillman said.
“Something that is crystal clear is that there is one person who decides American policy, and that’s the president of the United States. He decides what his government is going to do. And that is there’s really no question about that.”
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Appointed by former prime minister Justin Trudeau, Hillman helped lead the negotiations that created the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which was finalized in July 2020, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
She also served as Canada’s chief negotiator for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Sources told Global News in December 2025 that Trump “deeply dislikes” both Trudeau and those who were “closely associated” with him.
Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed financier Mark Wiseman to take on the role as Canada’s ambassador to the U.S.
Hillman said Canadians now are “a little more clear-eyed and perhaps a little bit more wary” of the U.S.
“But it’s good for us … because we need to be sure that we are putting Canada and Canadian interest first, that we are ensuring that we’re doing as much as we can for ourselves and not taking for granted,” she said.
Wiseman will officially replace Hillman on Feb. 15.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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