Washington: He was the once golden boy of progressive politics: a champion of climate change; an advocate for women and human rights; and a poster child for glossy magazines such as Vogue, which previously described him as a “political dreamboat”.

But after leading the country for almost a decade, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to step down after weeks of mounting pressure from within his own ranks, paving the way for a new, unpredictable era during Donald Trump’s second presidency in the US.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, seen here in 2017, came to office in late 2015.Credit: The Canadian Press via AP

“This country deserves a real choice in the next election and it has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles I cannot be the best option,” the 53-year-old said at a snowy Rideau Cottage, his official residence in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, on Monday (Tuesday AEDT).

Having come to office as a symbol of liberalism at a time when populism was on the rise, Trudeau now leaves as the latest leader in the West to be swept aside in an anti-incumbency wave.

Trudeau’s decision comes weeks after Trump threatened to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods if the government did not curb migrants and drugs entering the US from the northern border.

Canadian Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau in 2015.Credit: AP

In the end, the nation’s 23rd prime minister had little choice. While Trudeau – the son of storied PM Pierre Trudeau – was initially applauded for returning the country to its progressive past, he has become widely unpopular over a range of issues from inflation and cost of living pressures, to surging immigration.

Trudeau also faced repeated scandals over foreign interference schemes in Canada, as well as a diplomatic row with India after an assassination plot on Canadian soil.

Last month, a growing number of Liberal party members called on him to make way for a new leader, in a stinging rebuke exacerbated by his Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigning from the cabinet in a show of no confidence.

© The Sydney Morning Herald