Voting closed Sunday in the race to lead Canada's Liberal Party, with a former central banker and political novice favored to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the country confronts threats from US President Donald Trump. 

Mark Carney, who served as the governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, is the front-runner to be named Liberal leader when results are announced, likely before 7:00 PM (2300 GMT).

Voting closed at 3:00 PM after 151,899 party members cast ballots, the Liberal party said.  

Carney has racked up endorsements, including from much of Trudeau's cabinet and more than half of Liberals in parliament.  

His main challenger is Trudeau's former deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, who held several senior cabinet positions in the Liberal government that was first elected in 2015.

A Freeland win would be a surprise for the party as it heads towards an election that must be held by October, but could come within weeks.  

The new Liberal leader will become prime minister in the coming days, turning the page on the Trudeau era, but they may not have the job for long, with current polls putting the Conservatives as slight favorites to win the upcoming vote. 

Both Freeland and Carney have maintained that they are the best candidate to defend Canada against Trump's attacks.

The US president has repeatedly spoken about annexing Canada and thrown bilateral trade, the lifeblood of the Canadian economy, into chaos with dizzying tariff actions that have veered in various directions since he took office.

'Most serious crisis'

Party supporters gathered Sunday at an Ottawa hall draped in red where the winner will be announced. 

Lozminda Longkines, a Carney supporter, told AFP that Trump's repeated musings about making Canada the 51st US state were "a blessing in disguise."

"We are so united... We have a common enemy," the 71-year old said.

Greg MacEachern, who declined to say who he was supporting, agreed the party would emerge from the vote tightly focused on Trump. 

"This is a serious time, and I think people have taken this leadership race very, very seriously," said MacEachern, wearing a hockey jersey. 

Carney has argued that he is the ideal counter to Trump's disruptions, reminding voters that he led the Bank of Canada through the 2008-2009 financial crisis and steered the Bank of England through the turbulence that followed the 2016 Brexit vote. 

Trump "is attacking what we build. He is attacking what we sell. He is attacking how we earn our living," Carney told supporters at a closing campaign rally near Toronto on Friday.

"We are facing the most serious crisis in our lifetime," he added. "Everything in my life has prepared me for this moment."

Data released from the Angus Reid polling firm on Wednesday shows Canadians see Carney as the favorite choice to face off against Trump, potentially offering the Liberals a boost over the opposition Conservatives. 

Forty-three percent of respondents said they trusted Carney the most to deal with Trump, with 34 percent backing Tory leader Pierre Poilievre. 

Before Trudeau announced his plans to resign in January, the Liberals were headed for an electoral wipeout, but the leadership change and Trump's influence have dramatically tightened the race.

"I think we were written off about four months ago, and now we're right back where we should be," second tier leadership candidate and former MP, Frank Baylis, told AFP in Ottawa. 

Not a politician?

Carney made a fortune as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs before entering the Canadian civil service. 

Since leaving the Bank of England in 2020, he has served as a United Nations envoy working to get the private sector to invest in climate-friendly technology and has held private sector roles. 

He has never served in parliament or held an elected public office.

Analysts say his untested campaign skills could prove a liability against a Conservative Party already running attack ads accusing Carney of shifting positions and misrepresenting his experience. 

The 59-year-old has portrayed himself as a new voice untainted by Trudeau, who he has said did not devote enough attention to building Canada's economy. 

In the coming days, Trudeau and the new Liberal chief will visit Canada's Governor General Mary Simon — King Charles III's official representative in Canada — who will task the leader with forming a government.