With Kirsten Hillman set to leave her posts as Canada's ambassador and its top trade negotiator with the United States in 2026, Mark Wiseman has emerged as a leading candidate to succeed her. Former high-ranking
leader who also led
investment fund Wiseman has emerged as the favorite to become Canada's next ambassador, although it is still unclear who might take the title of negotiator.
Sources told Bloomberg News earlier this week.
Here's what you need to know about the leading candidate for Canada's ambassador to the United States:
Early life and education
Wiseman was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario. in 1970. He received his bachelor's degree from Queen's University and then obtained a joint MBA and law degree from the University of Toronto. After graduation, Wiseman worked as a clerk at
under the leadership of Judge Beverly McLachlin, who later became Chief Judge. He later joined the New York law firm Sullivan & Cromwell and moved to Paris to spend three years working on major mergers and acquisitions. Wiseman also received an LL.M. from Yale University, where he was a Fulbright Scholar.
Career development in North America
Wiseman returned to Canada in 2000 and began working for Harrowston Inc., then quickly moved to O.
(OTTP). While at OTTP, Wiseman was responsible for the private equity fund and 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 age 40, Wiseman became executive director of CPPIB, a position he held for nearly four years.
In 2016
Earlier than planned, he became a senior managing director and head of active equities at BlackRock Inc. in New York. He was also chairman of BlackRock's alternatives business and chairman of the global investment committee, and had previously been rumored to be a potential successor to CEO Larry Fink. But Wiseman was fired from BlackRock in December 2019 after he failed to disclose his consensual relationship with another employee, violating company policy.
Less than a year later, Wiseman returned to the Canadian investment scene, this time as Chairman
Alberta Investment Management Corporation
(AIMCo), where he helped stabilize the fund after a $2 billion loss. He left AIMCo in 2023.
What is he doing now?
Wiseman currently serves as senior advisor and chairman of Lazard Canada, a boutique investment firm based in New Orleans, and chairman of Alter Domus, an alternative investment and asset management company. He is also a senior advisor to Boston Consulting Group and a board member of NOVA Chemicals.
He is also chairman of the Century Initiative, a controversial lobbying group he co-founded with the goal of boosting Canada's economy by boosting its population to 100 million by 2100 through immigration.
On Wednesday, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre
“corporate cronies” and “longtime liberal elites” who only want to raise corporate profits and housing costs. Liberal leaders have said increasing Canada's population to 100 million is not part of their plan.
Connections with Carney and liberals
Wiseman is called a close friend
In 2016, Wiseman was named to the Economic Growth Advisory Council, a 14-member panel of experts assembled under former Finance Minister Bill Morneau to advise the government on economic policy.
The idea behind ACEG, chaired by Dominic Barton, was to provide strategic advice for Canada's sustainable economic growth, focusing on areas such as capital investment, innovation, talent and labor markets, trade and investment.
In March 2025, Carney named Wiseman to Trudeau's Council of Advisors on Canada-U.S. Relations.
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