Two agencies promoting Sophie Grégoire Trudeau speaking events

Online profiles play up her role as former wife of the prime minister, cite past meetings with Queen Elizabeth II and Pope Francis.

After announcing her separation from the prime minister in August, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau is back on the public speaking circuit, with one US speakers bureau calling her “the former unofficial First Lady of Canada.”

By putting out her shingle again, Grégoire Trudeau, a former television broadcaster, is returning to the profession she pursued before she met Justin Trudeau.

After an eight-year hiatus, Grégoire Trudeau is again listed with Speaker’s Spotlight, the Toronto bureau that booked her speaking work until 2015, when her husband became prime minister.   

Grégoire Trudeau is also represented in the United States by Keppler Speakers, an Arlington, Virginia, firm that represents television journalist Chris Wallace and sportscaster Jay Glazer.

The agency notes she has interviewed “luminaries” such as Gloria Steinem and Brad Pitt, met with Queen Elizabeth II and Pope Francis, and delivered opening remarks for Michelle and Barack Obama.

Speaker’s Spotlight profile describes her as “a celebrated mental health advocate and champion of gender equality, youth self-esteem, emotional literacy, and connecting with nature.”

The “former ‘de facto’ First Lady” offers “in-person and virtual keynotes, as well as workshops, fireside chats, and other presentation formats,” the agency says.  

No information about fees is provided, but Spotlight’s Martin Perelmuter confirmed that Grégoire Trudeau is now able to start taking paid work again.

“With the change of situation, she’s able to do that now,” he said. 

Grégoire Trudeau’s former mother-in-law, Margaret Trudeau, and former brother-in-law Alexandre “Sacha” Trudeau, are also listed in the agency’s roster of speakers. 

Grégoire Trudeau recently travelled to Atlanta, Georgia, to speak at the Evolve 2023 summit, which promised attendees would “learn how to shed years of cultural conditioning and live their absolute best lives.”

Grégoire Trudeau appeared on stage with Evolve founder and motivational speaker Dr. Shafali Tsabary.  

In the 2020 controversy around WE Charity, it was revealed that Grégoire Trudeau, Alexandre Trudeau and Margaret Trudeau had all spoken at the group’s events in the years before WE was chosen to run a student summer jobs program during the pandemic. 

An investigation by the federal ethics commissioner found Grégoire Trudeau was not paid when she spoke at WE Day rallies for the youth charity’s volunteers and was compensated only for related expenses. Her husband was cleared of any ethics breaches.

Grégoire Trudeau is now no longer subject to the scrutiny of the ethics commissioner or conflict-of-interest rules that previously required her husband to publicly report the sources of his spouse’s income.

Before the breakup, Trudeau reported in his ethics disclosure that his wife had incorporated as Under Your Light Communications Inc.  In the most recent iteration of the disclosure, filed October 5th, Trudeau dropped any references to her.

In addition to any paid speaking work, Grégoire Trudeau could receive royalties on her forthcoming book, Closer Together, to be published in April 2024 by Penguin Random House Canada.

Justin Trudeau had his own lucrative career as public speaker before he became prime minister, earning as much as $462,000 in one year.  He continued to take speaking jobs even after he was first elected in 2008, earning $72,000 on top of his MP salary.

He told the Ottawa Citizen in 2013 that he stopped taking paid speaking work when he decided to run for the Liberal leadership.