OTTAWA — Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is increasingly likely to announce he intends to step down, though he has not made a final decision, a source familiar with Trudeau's thinking said on Sunday.

The source spoke to Reuters after Canadian daily The Globe and Mail reported that Trudeau was expected to announce as early as Monday that he would quit as leader of the ruling Liberal Party after nine years in office.

The source requested anonymity because of the lack of authorization to speak publicly.

Trudeau's departure would leave the party without a permanent head at a time when polls show the Liberals will badly lose to the opposition Conservatives in an election that must be held by late October.

Sources told The Globe and Mail that they did not know definitely when Trudeau would announce his plans to leave but said they expect it would happen before an emergency meeting of Liberal legislators on Wednesday.

An increasing number of Liberal parliamentarians, alarmed by a series of gloomy polls, have publicly urged Trudeau to quit.

It remains unclear whether Trudeau will leave immediately or stay on as prime minister until a new Liberal leader is selected, The Globe and Mail report added.

Coming late to politics after working as a snowboard instructor, bartender, bouncer and teacher, Trudeau was first elected in 2008 to the House of Commons to represent a working-class Montreal neighborhood.

Trudeau took over as Liberal leader in 2013 when the party was in deep trouble and had been reduced to third place in the House of Commons for the first time.

He swept to power in 2015 and led the Liberals to two more ballot box victories in 2019 and 2021.

Waning popularity

However, his popularity has waned in recent months, with his government narrowly surviving a series of no-confidence votes and critics calling for his resignation.

If he does resign, it would likely spur fresh calls for a quick election to put in place a stable government able to deal with the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump, who has threatened a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland quit last month after disagreeing with Trudeau over how to respond to Trump's apparent plan, in the first open dissent against the prime minister within his cabinet.

Later that month, Trudeau announced a major shake-up to his cabinet — changing one-third of his team in a bid to settle the political turmoil.