Overview

Indira Anita Anand (born May 20, 1967) is a Canadian lawyer, academic, and politician who has served as the minister of Foreign Affairs since 2025. A member of the Liberal Party, Anand was elected to the House of Commons in 2019 and currently serves as the member of Parliament (MP) for Oakville East. Anand was first elected as the MP for Oakville in the October 2019 election and was subsequently appointed to Cabinet in November. In the 29th Canadian Ministry, chaired by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Anand first served as the minister of public services and procurement, where she was responsible for the federal government's procurement of vaccines and personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, she became the minister of national defence and played a key role in Canadian efforts to provide military aid to Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Anand was the president of the Treasury Board from 2023 to 2024 and the minister of transport and internal trade from 2024 to 2025. Maclean’s described her at one point as the Trudeau government’s “all-round fixer.” In the 30th Canadian Ministry, chaired by Prime Minister Mark Carney, Anand was appointed minister of innovation, science and industry. She held the role for two months prior to her appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs following the 2025 federal election. Anand is the first Hindu woman to be elected to Parliament and the first Hindu member of Cabinet in Canada. == Early life and education == Indira Anita Anand was born in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Her parents were both Indian physicians; her mother Saroj D. Ram was an anesthesiologist, and her father S.V. (Andy) Anand was a general surgeon. Her father was from Tamil Nadu and her mother was from Punjab. Anita has two sisters, her elder sister, Gita Anand, is an employment lawyer in Toronto, and her younger sibling Sonia Anand, is a physician and researcher at McMaster University. Her parents were followers of Mahatma Gandhi and her father met Mahatma Gandhi when his father, V.A. Sundaram, was working within the Indian independence movement. In the early 1960s, Anand's mother and father were living in Nigeria when her father travelled to Nova Scotia to investigate the possibility of immigrating to Canada or the United States. Upon landing in Halifax, he rented a car, drove to the Annapolis Valley and "found the right place for his family." They settled in Kentville, a town of approximately 5,000 people, where Anand was born in 1967. Anand relocated to Ontario in 1985 to pursue her undergraduate degree at Queen's University in political studies. After winning the gold medal in Political Studies in 1989, she went to Wadham College, Oxford to read law. After completing her studies in Oxford, she returned to Nova Scotia, to obtain her Canadian law degree at Dalhousie University before articling in Toronto. Anand holds four degrees: a Bachelor of Arts (honours) in political studies from Queen's University; a Bachelor of Arts (honours) in jurisprudence from Wadham College, Oxford University; a bachelor of laws from Dalhousie University; and a master of laws from the University of Toronto. She was called to the Ontario Bar in 1994. Anand has held academic positions at Yale, Queen's University and Western University. Before her election, Anand was a law professor at the University of Toronto. == Academic and legal career == Before her political career, Anand was a professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law specializing in corporate governance and the regulation of capital markets. She was previously the J.R. Kimber Chair in Investor Protection and Corporate Governance at the Faculty. As of October 2019, Anand is on leave from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law for the duration of her time as an elected official. Anand began her legal career as an associate at Torys from 1994 to 1997 (with leave to pursue her master's degree), after articling at Torys from 1992 to 1993. She then pursued her teaching career by serving as assistant professor (adjunct) from 1997 to 1999 at the Faculty of Law of Western University. In 1999, she became assistant professor in the Faculty of Law at Queen's University, obtaining tenure and advancing to the rank of associate professor in 2003. She received a U.S.-Canada Fulbright award in 2005 and attended Yale Law School as a visiting lecturer in law (fall 2005) while teaching comparative corporate governance. She was also visiting Olin scholar in law and economics at Yale Law School (2005-2006) and undertook research on the implications of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on Canadian public companies. Anand left Queen's University for the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto in 2006 where she was a full professor. She served as associate dean from 2007 to 2009. From 2010 to 2019, Anand also served as the academic director of the Centre for the Legal Profession, as well as for its Program on Ethics in Law and Business. At the time of her election, she was a senior fellow and member of the Board of Governors of Massey College. She was also cross-appointed to the Rotman School of Management as the director of policy and research at the Capital Markets Research Institute, and to the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. On September 17, 2019, it was announced that Anand would receive the Yvan Allaire Medal from the Royal Society of Canada. The medal is bestowed annually for an outstanding contribution in governance of private and public organizations. The Royal Society stated that Anand's research "significantly altered global thinking about best practices for boards of directors, including the importance of diversity on boards". == Political career == === 2019 federal election === In the lead up to the 2019 federal election, Anand decided to pursue the Liberal nomination for the riding of Oakville, Ontario, after the incumbent John Oliver announced that he would not run in the 2019 election. On June 12, 2019, Anita Anand won the Liberal nomination for the riding of Oakville, Ontario by a majority of votes on the first ballot. She defeated former member of Provincial Parliament Kevin Flynn for the nomination. On October 21, 2019, Anand won the riding of Oakville with 30,265 votes. Anand was sworn in as the member of Parliament for Oakville on November 22, 2019, to represent Oakville in the House of Commons in the 43rd Canadian Parliament. === Minister of Public Services and Procurement === On November 20, 2019, Anand was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council and as the public services and procurement minister at Rideau Hall. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, Anand and her department acted to buy personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supplies for Canada's health care system. In order to ensure reliable access to PPE in a hyper-competitive market, Anand and her department adopted an aggressive procurement strategy and engaged a large number of suppliers to diversify Canada's supply chains. In April 2021, Anand told the House of Commons Health Committee that Public Services and Procurement Canada had procured over 2.5 billion articles of personal protective equipment, "with a substantial amount of that equipment being made right here, at home." Beginning in the summer of 2020, the Canadian government signed contracts with the producers of seven leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates, and the producers of supplies needed to package and administer those vaccines. Initially, Canada's target was to receive enough vaccines to fully immunize all eligible Canadians by September 30, 2021. By the end of July 2021, Canada had received a cumulative total of more than 66.4 million vaccines. By August 2021, Canada had attained the highest vaccination rate in the world. Anand also worked to finalize Canada's agreements with vaccine producers regarding the procurement and delivery of COVID-19 vaccine doses for children. After Health Canada approved the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in pediatric populations under the age of 12 years on November 19, 2021, the first pediatric doses of the vaccine arrived in Canada two days later, on November 21, 2021. === 2021 federal election === Anand was re-elected to Parliament following the 2021 Canadian federal election. She defeated Conservative Kerry Colborne with 46 per cent of the vote. === Minister of National Defence === On October 26, 2021, Anand was sworn in as Minister of National Defence at Rideau Hall. She is only the second woman in Canadian history to take on the role of national defence minister, after former prime minister Kim Campbell in the 1990s. Anand stated that her top priority was tackling sexual misconduct and building a durable culture change in the Canadian Armed Forces. On November 4, 2021, Anand announced that she accepted in full an interim recommendation from former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Louise Arbour that the investigation and prosecution of military sexual misconduct cases be referred to Canada's civilian justice system. On December 13, 2021, Anand offered an official apology on behalf of the Government of Canada to all those affected by sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defence. She was joined by General Wayne Eyre, Chief of the Defence Staff, who apologized on behalf of the military, and Deputy Minister Jody Thomas, who apologized on behalf of the department. On May 30, 2022, Anand was joined by Louise Arbour, General Wayne Eyre, and Deputy Minister Bill Matthews to release the final report of the Independent External Comprehensive Review into Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Harassment in the Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defence. On July 9, 2022, in Truro, Anand and Prime Minister Trudeau offered the Government of Canada's official apology to the members and descendants of No. 2 Construction Battalion, an all-Black battalion that faced anti-Black racism and discrimination during its service to Canada in World War I. On December 16, 2022, Anand presented a report to Parliament detailing her official response to all 48 of Louise Arbour's 48 recommendations to respond to sexual misconduct and harassment in Canada's military and defence department, pursuant to Arbour's ask that Anand inform Parliament by the end of 2022 of any recommendations that the government would reject. Anand rejected none of the recommendations and stressed the need to change Canadian military culture to attract recruits. ==== War in Ukraine ==== In late January 2022, Anand and Prime Minister Trudeau announced that Canada would extend its training mission in Ukraine, Operation Unifier, by three years, and raise the ceiling of deployed personnel from 200 to 400. In announcing the extension, Anand stated, "The biggest contribution that Canada can make to Ukraine right now is people. We have trained, our soldiers have trained over 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers. We should not underestimate the importance of this training mission." A few days later, Anand visited Kyiv as a sign of Canadian solidarity, all while Russia significantly increased its military buildup around Ukraine. Anand stated that "Russia has a choice, and that choice is to negotiate with a view to de-escalation" or it will "face severe sanctions and consequences." While in Ukraine, Anand met with Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov to discuss military aid to Ukraine, including in the area of cybersecurity. Shortly after Anand's visit, in late February the Canadian government did authorize and deliver a $7.8 million package of lethal weapons to Ukraine. Just days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Anand announced a significant expansion of Canada's contribution to NATO operations in Europe. Under the umbrella of Operation Reassurance she announced the deployment of approximately 120 members of an artillery battery to join the Canadian-led NATO Enhanced Forward Presence battle group in Latvia, and the deployment of an additional Halifax-class frigate to NATO maritime forces. On March 19, HMCS Halifax left port and joined NATO maritime forces in the Baltic region. At the departure ceremony, Anand stated, "At this time it is so important for us all to be united, to stand together, to stand against unwarranted and illegal Russian aggression, and to stand up for