The ministers – 15 women and 15 men – are mostly aged under 50, in a team marking both a generational change and a commitment to reflecting Canada’s diversity.

“It’s important to be here before you today to present to Canada a cabinet that looks like Canada,” Trudeau, 43, told reporters on Wednesday soon after he was officially sworn-in as the country’s 23rd prime minister – the second-youngest in its history.

Asked to explain his gender parity promise, he answered: “Because it’s 2015.”

Many of the incoming female ministers have been given key roles, including former journalist Chrystia Freeland – now in charge of international trade – and Maryam Monsef, who fled Afghanistan as a refugee 20 years ago and will oversee the democratic reform portfolio.

Trudeau’s cabinet also includes two aboriginal members of parliament and three Sikh politicians.

Trudeau is the son of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, one of Canada’s most recognizable and longest serving prime ministers. But he said he wasn’t reflecting on his father’s legacy during Wednesday’s swearing-in.

“My thoughts today – sorry Dad – aren’t mostly on him, they’re very much on my own kids and the kids across this country that we are going to work very, very hard for to ensure they have a better future,” he said.

An MP since 2008, Trudeau led the centrist Liberals to a resounding victory in October’s federal election, replacing Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, who held power for nine years.