The Latest: Louise Arbour installed as Canada’s 31st Governor General

Former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour has been installed as Canada’s 31st Governor General, replacing Mary Simon.

Today’s ceremony included a 21-gun salute, a poetry reading and  musical performances by two Canadian artists.

Here’s the latest on a historic day in Ottawa. All times are Eastern:

10:45 a.m. 

Prime Minister Mark Carney is delivering a speech as part of the installation ceremony.

He is outlining the history of the current Senate building, which is Ottawa’s former railway station. The Senate is being housed there temporarily while renovations are underway on Centre Block.

Carney says Canadian soldiers left from that building to go fight in the First World War, and it’s where Winston Churchill arrived to rally Allied support in 1941.

It is also where Canada’s first ministers gathered for the negotiations that led to the repatriation of the Constitution and the establishment of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

10:35 a.m.

Parliamentary Poet Laureate Chimwemwe Undi reads a poem she wrote for the occasion. A small ripple goes through the crowd when it is announced the poem will also be read by a student from Louise Arbour Elementary School in Ottawa.

Arbour is then presented with the four collars of office, each presented on a purple cushion.

Tyler Shaw then performs Raffi’s song Like Me and You.

10:30 a.m.

Chief Justice Richard Wagner reads out three oaths and Louise Arbour officially becomes the 31st Governor General of Canada. Those in the room stand up and applaud. A 21-gun salute is fired from Parliament Hill as Arbour sits on the Senate throne.

10:20 a.m.

As the ceremony gets underway, an Inuk elder lights a qulliq, a traditional Inuit oil lamp. The audience then listens to a performance of the song La Reine by Les Cowboys Fringants. Arbour can be seen mouthing the lyrics silently.

Arbour sits beside the podium as the secretary to the governor general reads her commission.

10:15 a.m.

The procession moves into the Senate chamber, where the dignitaries take their seats. The Canadian Armed Forces Central Band plays as guests arrive and the ceremony gets underway.

Also in the chamber are former prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Joe Clark, who are sitting together. They are joined by former governors general Adrienne Clarkson and David Johnston, astronaut Jeremy Hansen and a number of MPs. Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and NDP Leader Avi Lewis are also in the room.

10:05 a.m.

Outgoing Gov. Gen. Mary Simon commissions the new Great Seal of Canada, which was approved by King Charles during his visit last year. The governor general’s website says the Great Seal “embodies the authority of the Crown.”

9:45 a.m.

Louise Arbour, Prime Minister Mark Carney, Simon and the other dignitaries are welcomed by the local Algonquin First Nations. They watch a drum circle by Eagle River Singers and two dancers from Pikwakanagan First Nation before walking inside the Senate of Canada building.

Inside, they are greeted by Senate Speaker Raymonde Gagne, House of Commons Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia, Assembly Of First Nations Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, Métis National Council president Victoria Pruden and Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.

9:39 a.m.

Louise Arbour — wearing sunglasses, a royal blue jacket and black pants, with her Order of Canada medal around her neck — arrives at the Senate of Canada building in a motorcade. She poses for a photo with Carney, Simon, Chief Justice Richard Wagner and others on the red carpet.

9:35 a.m.

Simon and her spouse, Whit Fraser, arrive at the Senate building in a black vehicle.

They are preceded by Chief Justice Wagner and his spouse, Catherine Mandeville.

Simon is wearing a bright green jacket and a colourful scarf, with matching blue streaks in her hair.

9:30 a.m.

Prime Minister Carney and his spouse Diana Fox Carney arrive at the Senate of Canada building to attend the installation ceremony.

They are greeted by the Usher of the Black Rod, the senior ceremonial and protocol officer for the Senate, and Indigenous leaders.

Four mounted RCMP officers stand guard at the arrivals area, which has a red carpet.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2026. 

Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.