Canada's incoming prime minister Mark Carney has promised a "smooth" and "quick" transition from Justin Trudeau after his convincing win in the ruling Liberal Party's leadership race.

But speaking on, RTHK's Hong Kong Today programme, Professor Al Reyes of the University of Hong Kong told Carol Musgrave that Carney's tough position on President Donald Trump meant that relations between the US and Canada would continue to be fraught.

"He made very clear that the retaliatory tariffs that he imposed would remain until there is stability or at least some resolution to the current tariff war, so one can expect 'Trumpy times'... they've been already fraught under [Justin] Trudeau and these waning days, I think they will continue to be once [Mark] Carney takes over," Reyes said.

The upcoming general election will be a major test for Carney, a former governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, who has never served in parliament nor held any elected public office.

"He does not have a seat in parliament. That's one reason why it would be more likely that a general election would be called very soon, because he has to get a seat in parliament... I think the key challenges for him, not just trying to figure out how to deal with the United States, but also what are the alternatives in terms of trade and investment if relations with the United States are so difficult."

Reyes added that domestically, the cost of housing, eliminating the carbon tax and immigration would be key issues for Carney going forward.