Green Party Deputy Leader Jonathan Pedno announced on Tuesday that he will step down from his position for personal reasons.

He said it was the "honor of a lifetime" to serve the country as part of a party he believes embodies what politics should be.

Pedno - a human rights investigator, activist, and documentary filmmaker - shared the news alongside Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, who was "heartbroken" in Ottawa.

May told reporters, "I won't pretend that I'm not sad, but I respect him."

The party had described the press conference in Parliament Hill as an "important" update on the leadership of the Green Party of Canada.

May and Pedno won the 2022 leadership race in the sixth ballot as part of one of the joint leadership ticket’s dual-bill offerings, but they have since served as leader and deputy leader consecutively.

This is because formalizing the co-leader model requires member approval to amend the party's constitution. This amendment has not yet been made, amidst internal discussions and delays.

May stated on Tuesday that she remains committed to pursuing the party's ability to have a joint leadership model moving forward, but she will continue her work as leader for now.

After stepping down from her position after 13 years of party leadership in November 2019, May returned to leadership and pledged to reunite the party and double down on the push for climate action.

Her return to the role came after Annamie Paul’s brief but tumultuous tenure at the head of the party, along with interim periods under Jo-Ann Roberts and Amita Kuttner.

May is one of two Green MPs in the House of Commons. She represents Saanich-Gulf Islands, British Columbia, a seat she has held since 2011 when she became the first elected MP for the party. Her colleague in the seat, Mike Morris, represents Kitchener Centre, Ontario.

Pedno already ran in 2023 for the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce – Westmount by-election, hoping to secure a third seat in the House of Commons for his party, but he came in fourth place.

Earlier this year, May spoke optimistically about the party's prospects for 2024 and beyond, anticipating that the upcoming elections will surprise her party with a much larger number of elected MPs than in the past.

When asked at that time why she believed the political landscape could yield different results for the Green Party compared to past elections, May said in her home province that she sees a high level of "disappointment" towards the Liberals and the New Democratic Party, as well as "a lot of" concern regarding the Conservative government.

In the by-election held last month in Toronto-St. Paul, which caused a stunning surprise for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his party, the Green Party candidate Christian Coles came in fourth.

May stated on Tuesday that she is still confident that the Green Party of Canada is capable of attracting more voters.