Trudeau travelling to Lisbon to attend the Aga Khan's funeral

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with the Aga Khan on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 17, 2016. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is flying to Lisbon on Friday to attend the Aga Khan’s funeral.

Trudeau was expected to depart for Portugal on Friday night and the funeral is to be held in Lisbon on Saturday.

The Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the world’s Ismaili Muslims, died Tuesday at the age of 88.

Trudeau paid tribute to the Aga Khan that night, calling him a compassionate global leader who will be deeply missed by people around the world.

The Aga Khan was a key figure in an ethics scandal involving Trudeau, who was found to have breached federal conflict of interest rules by vacationing on the Aga Khan’s private island in 2016.

At the time, the ethics commissioner said Trudeau broke the rules by accepting a gift that could be seen as influencing government decisions.

The Aga Khan helped set up the Global Centre for Pluralism in Ottawa and an Islamic arts museum in Toronto, the first of its kind in North America.

He was granted honorary Canadian citizenship in 2009.

After his trip to Lisbon, Trudeau will attend the AI Action Summit in Paris. He will then make his way to Brussels for a meeting of Canada-European Union leaders next Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2025.

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press