Marjorie Michel arrived in federal politics as a first time MP, but the Liberal’s rapid rise to Canada’s health ministry was preceded by decades of work behind the scenes in government, diplomacy and political organization.

Elected in Papineau in 2025 to succeed former prime minister Justin Trudeau, Michel was appointed Health Minister by Prime Minister Mark Carney just weeks later. She has since taken on one of the government’s most consequential portfolios at a time when Canada’s health system faces persistent pressures.

Michel’s public profile is new, but her political résumé is not. Born in Haiti, she began her international career as an adviser at the Haitian Embassy in Paris before coordinating logistics for the 1995 General Assembly of the Organization of American States. Her work earned official recognition from the United States government.

After settling in Quebec, Michel moved into political and government roles, including work with Jean Yves Duclos and senior positions in federal government offices. She became involved in Liberal election campaigns in Quebec and helped lead the party’s operations during the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

Her most notable political breakthrough came in 2021, when she became the first Black woman appointed deputy chief of staff to a Canadian prime minister. She subsequently became one of the senior figures in Trudeau’s political operation.

That experience has shaped her approach as a minister. In a recent interview, Michel rejected the idea that she entered politics seeking celebrity.

“I’m not here to be a star,” she said, describing the health portfolio as a “very, very serious job.”

Her early record as health minister includes work on reproductive health, cancer research, medicines and health innovation. At a parliamentary health committee hearing in March, she highlighted funding for cancer research, reproductive health initiatives, Indigenous naloxone distribution and measles prevention. She also pointed to artificial intelligence and technology as potential tools for addressing gaps in health care delivery

Michel has also faced scrutiny over the strained state of Canadian health care. At the same committee hearing, she acknowledged that the system is “under pressure,” while stopping short of describing it as a crisis.

Her background also gives her appointment a broader significance. A daughter of former Haitian prime minister Smarck Michel, she represents both a historic breakthrough for Black leadership in federal politics and a generation of immigrant Canadians who have moved into the country’s highest political institutions.

For Michel, however, the measure of success appears less likely to be personal visibility than whether her experience can translate into results. Her career was built largely away from the spotlight.

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