Carlos Leitão (born 1956) is a Canadian politician in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

who was elected to the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

in the 2014 election. A member of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

, he has been an MP since 2025.

Early life and education

Originally from Portugal, Leitão moved to Canada in 1975. He is a alumnus of

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, graduating in 1979 with a bachelor of arts. Prior to Leitão's election to the legislature, he was the chief economist for Laurentian Bank Securities.

Career

Leitão represented the electoral district of

Robert-Baldwin Robert-Baldwin is a provincial electoral district in the Montreal region of Quebec, Canada that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It includes a portion of the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough of Montreal as well as the city of Dollar ...

as a member of the

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; , PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has traditionally supported a form of Quebec federalist ideology with nuance ...

until he retired from provincial politics at the

2022 Quebec general election The 2022 Quebec general election was held on October 3, 2022, to elect the members of the National Assembly of Quebec. Under the province's Fixed election dates in Canada, fixed election date law, passed in 2013, "the general election following t ...

. He was appointed Quebec minister of Finance on April 23, 2014 by

Philippe Couillard Philippe Couillard (; born June 26, 1957) is a Canadian business advisor and former neurosurgeon, university professor and politician who served as 31st premier of Quebec from 2014 to 2018. Between 2003 and 2008, he was Quebec's Minister of H ...

. In May 2023, Leitão was named to the

Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada (BoC; ) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and Canada's central bank. Chartered in 1934 under the ''Bank of Canada Act'', it is responsible for formulating Canada's monetary policy,OECD. OECD Economic Surve ...

's board of directors. After

Mark Carney Mark Joseph Carney (born March 16, 1965) is a Canadian politician and economist who has served as the 24th and current Prime Minister of Canada, prime minister of Canada since 2025. He has served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, lead ...

won the

2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election From February 26 to March 9, 2025, members of the Liberal Party of Canada voted on a successor for Justin Trudeau after he announced his intent to resign as the party leader and prime minister of Canada. Mark Carney, the former governor of ...

, his team reached out to Leitão, a longtime associate, to run in the federal election.

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leitao, Carlos 1956 births Living people Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Canadian economists Politicians from Montreal Portuguese emigrants to Canada McGill University alumni Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons People from Peniche, Portugal 21st-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec Laurentian Bank of Canada Members of the Executive Council of Quebec Ministers of finance of Quebec 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec