The list of nominees to become the next primate of the Anglican Church of Canada will be announced April 3, General Secretary Archdeacon Alan Perry said in a Feb. 14 statement laying out the timeline for the primatial election process.
Electing a new primate is a major agenda item at the upcoming meeting of General Synod, which will take place June 23-29 in London, Ont. All bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada are eligible for election to the primacy.
The Order of Bishops will meet from March 31 to April 4 and hold a ballot on April 2 to select the nominees. A full list of nominees will be posted the following day at 9 a.m. Eastern time on anglican.ca/GS2025. Biographical information about each nominee will be posted to the website on April 11, followed by video responses from the nominees to a series of questions on April 22.
The primatial election will take place June 26, when clergy and lay members of General Synod gather to vote at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Archbishop Anne Germond, acting primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, will then announce the results. The installation of the 15th primate of the Anglican Church of Canada will follow on June 29.
“The election of a new primate is a profound moment of spiritual discernment in the life of our beloved church,” Perry said. He invited prayers for the orders of bishops, clergy and laity; for the nominees, their families and dioceses; “for the person who will be elected—whom God has already chosen to be our next primate”; and for Germond as she leads the church through the coming months.
Germond, deemed senior metropolitan in the Anglican Church of Canada by date of election, became acting primate Sept. 15 after General Synod voted in 2023 against a resolution that would have extended primatial terms to the following General Synod if that meeting fell within a year of the primate’s 70th birthday, when primates in the Anglican Church of Canada are required to leave office. That meant Archbishop Linda Nicholls, who was primate at the time, had to resign by the time of her 70th birthday. Nicholls served as primate from July 2019 to September 2024.
While Germond is eligible for nomination, she told the Anglican Journal in October that she would not let her name stand for primate if nominated.
Correction: “House of Bishops” in the third paragraph has been corrected to say “Order of Bishops.”
