Former Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland
The Toronto member of parliament became one of the most well-known members of Trudeau's team and is seen as one of the top contenders to replace the outgoing leader.
While she had long been seen as a trusted senior official in his inner circle, a rift with the prime minister's office led to her recent abrupt resignation in December.
Her criticism of Trudeau in her public resignation letter piled the pressure on him and made his departure seem inevitable.
Born to a Ukrainian mother in the western province of Alberta, the 56-year-old was a journalist before entering politics.
She entered the House of Commons in 2013 and two years later joined Trudeau's cabinet with a trade brief after he swept the party to power.
As Minister of Foreign Affairs she helped Canada renegotiate a free trade deal with the US and Mexico.
She was later named deputy prime minister and minister of finance - the first woman to hold the job - and oversaw Canada's financial response to the Covid pandemic.
Quitting last month, she criticised Trudeau as insufficiently strong in his handling of Donald Trump's threat to levy US tariffs on Canadian goods.
A 2019 Globe and Mail profile said depending who you asked, Freeland is either a last, best hope for the liberal world order or an out-of-touch idealist.
Former central banker Mark Carney
Trudeau himself admitted that he had long been trying to recruit Mark Carney to his team, most recently as finance minister.
"He would be an outstanding addition at a time when Canadians need good people to step up in politics," he told reporters on the sidelines of a Nato conference in July 2024.
Carney, 59, who has been serving in recent months as a special adviser to Trudeau, has long been considered a contender for the top job.
The Harvard graduate has never held public office but has a strong economic background, serving at the top of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.
He also brings with him expertise on environmental matters through his role as the United Nations special envoy on climate action, recently calling the goal of net zero "the greatest commercial opportunity of our time".
Carney is a champion of some Liberal policies that have been unpopular within the country's conservative circles like the federal carbon tax policy, the party's signature climate policy that critics argue is a financial burden for Canadians.
Anita Anand, transport minister
Anand is often touted as one of the more ambitious members of the Liberal caucus.
The 57-year-old lawyer entered the political scene in 2019 when she was elected to represent the riding of Oakville, just outside of Toronto.
An Oxford-educated academic, she has a background in financial market regulation and corporate governance.
She was immediately awarded the ministerial brief of pubemic.
Anand was then appointed minister of defence in 2021, leading Canada's efforts to provide aid for Ukraine in its war against Russia and overseeing a personnel crisis at the Canadian Armed Forces mired by sexual misconduct scandals.