Bank of Canada governor did not demand Carney's resignation

Published on January 14, 2026 at 17:55
1 min read
By Gwen Roley, AFP Canada

Canada's economy has teetered from the impact of US tariffs, but there is no evidence that Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem has called for Prime Minister Mark Carney to step down, as claimed in posts across social media. The Bank of Canada confirmed to AFP that its top official made no such demand.

"Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem blames Carney for not getting a trade deal with Donald Trump and RUINING Canada's economy," reads the text inside an image shared to Facebook on January 10, 2026. "He is suggesting Carney resign immediately."

The claim spread alongside Macklem's photo on Facebook and X in January, after previously circulating on TikTok as early as October 2025.

Screenshot of a Facebook post taken January 12, 2026

Canada's market has been mired in uncertainty since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025, due to trade tensions with the country's neighbor over retaliatory tariffs. Bumpy negotiations have caused the economic situation to change quickly and prompted several misleading claims online.

The posts about a supposed call from Macklem for Carney's resignation are similarly false. Keyword searches revealed no credible news articles reporting that the high-ranking economic official had called on the prime minister to step down (archived here).

Bank of Canada spokesman Paul Badertscher confirmed to AFP that Macklem had not called for the prime minister's departure.

"The Bank has no role in trade policy," he said in a January 12, 2026 email.

Badertscher pointed to a September 23, 2025 video of a lecture in which Macklem outlined how the Bank of Canada's mandate focuses on setting inflation and interest rates in reaction to numerous economic factors, including trade negotiations, rather than recommending policy or leadership changes (archived here).

As governor of the Bank of Canada, Macklem speaks publicly when he announces quarterly adjustments to the country's key interest rate (archived here). He said in October 2025 that trade tensions with the United States had "weakened" Canada's economy, but AFP's review of his conferences via the Canadian Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) did not reveal any calls for Carney to quit (archived here, here, here and here).

CPAC's archives show Macklem making no such remark in any other public appearances since October 2025 (archived here).

Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.

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