Wednesday July 23, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC [Posted at 11:01 am PT | Updated 12:30 pm & 2:15 PT]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Prince Edward Island Premier Rob Lantz is the Chair of the Council of the Federation (COF) — an assembly of Canada’s Premiers — starting August 1, 2025.
This was announced as the 2025 COF summer meeting wrapped up in Ontario.
The Chair’s position changes each year at the summer meeting of the premiers.
Outgoing chair:
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has chaired the COF over the past year, wrapping up with the Summer Meeting in Huntsville Ontario July 21 to 23, 2025.
Without exception, it was appreciated by the prime minister and the other premiers that leadership under Doug Ford has been positive and productive for Canada’s interests in trade and the economy.
From big to small:
Today PEI Premier Lantz in his role as incoming COF Chair said that he realizes the emphasis of COF leadership now shifts from the biggest (Ontario) to the smallest (PEI) economies.
But Lantz said today that PEI “has a history of playing an out-sized role”.
He hopes to carry forward a “sense of unity and cooperation”.
Lantz was sworn into office as the 34th Premier of PEI on February 21, 2025. He participated in a bilateral meeting with other Canadian Premiers together with some northeastern US governors in June.
Britain’s Prince Edward — brother of King Charles III — visited PEI in June, ahead of Canada Day this year.
Evolution of COF:
Lantz today remarked at the COF closing news conference that the role of the Canada’s Premiers assembly has evolved over the years.
It started as a format to lobby for more health-care funding transfers from the federal government to now what is now “a very cooperative venue”. That is due “in large part to the circumstances we find ourselves in — the problem of Donald Trump but also because of the willingness of Mark Carney to engage with us and make us full partners at the table to resolve the issues that we’re facing and to move this country forward,” said Lantz.
He says the evolved COF sees collaboration with the federal government where the premiers are seen as equals in handling the responsibilities of government in their regions but also more broadly in terms of shared impact.
“(Carney) recognizes us as equal partners that can get the job done,” said Lantz about Prime Minister Mark Carney. “All of us have gone out of our way to recognize that,” said Lantz, referring to the other Premiers who have attended the three-day meeting in Huntsville, Ontario.
Today on CBC Power and Politics, Lantz said he feels the trade war issues with Trump’s administration probably won’t be resolved within the next year.
Previous COF Chairs:
- COF 2023-2024 – Chair Tim Houston, Nova Scotia – COF meeting in Halifax
- COF 2022-2023 – Chair Heather Stefanson, Manitoba
- COF 2021-2022 – Chair John Horgan, BC – COF meeting in Victoria
- COF 2020-2021 – Chair François Legault, Quebec
- COF 2019-2020 – Chair Scott Moe, Saskatchewan
===== RELATED:
- Prime Minister Carney at Premiers meeting – building one strong economy (July 22, 2025)
- Carney shares G7 outcomes with premiers (June 22, 2025)
- Summer meeting of Canada’s Premiers coming up July 21 to 23 (June 10, 2025)
- NEWS SECTIONS: COUNCIL OF THE FEDERATION | CANADA-NATIONAL