Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon is expected to become the country's new minister of foreign affairs, while the man who minds Canada's finances will likely stay on the job when Prime Minister Stephen Harper announces his new cabinet Thursday.

Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon responds to a question during question period on Parliament Hill in February. (Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)

The members of Parliament will be handed their cabinet portfolios during a ceremony scheduled to take place at 10:30 a.m. ET Thursday at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. The ceremony will be broadcast on CBC Newsworld and live-streamed on CBCNews.ca.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is widely expected to remain in his portfolio to offer stability during global economic turmoil.

Ministers with proven track records will likely be spread among the economic portfolios such as Industry, Environment, Transport and Infrastructure to signal the economy is a priority issue for the Harper government.

There's speculation Industry Minister Jim Prentice may slide into trade, a spot left vacant by David Emerson's departure from politics. Emerson has also served as foreign affairs minister since embattled Quebec MP Maxime Bernier resigned in May.

Others are suggesting that several rookie female MPs are expected to be called up to cabinet.

"We'll probably see some new high-profile female cabinet ministers, which will be good for Canadians," said Nik Nanos, who runs a polling firm in Ottawa.

With 11 of the Conservative's 35 first-time members of Parliament being female, the prime minister has a wide range to choose from.

Leona Aglukkaq enters the Nunavut chambers in 2007. (Sara Minogue/Canadian Press)

Gail Shea, a longtime provincial minister who won the P.E.I. riding of Egmont, is seen as an obvious choice for cabinet given her experience, and her selection would provide the party with regional representation. Her victory marked the Conservative's first elected member in the province since 1984.

Other names bandied about are Leona Aglukkaq, Nunavut's former health minister, and Lisa Raitt, former chief executive officer of the Toronto Port Authority.

Raitt reclaimed the Ontario riding of Halton for the Conservatives by toppling the outspoken Garth Turner, who was elected as a Conservative but defected to the Liberals.

The Conservatives' current cabinet has seven women among its 31 members.

'Great pool of talent to pick from'

But with double the number of Conservative female MPs elected on Oct. 14 compared to the 2006 vote, the advocacy group Equal Voice is hopeful more women will be placed in key cabinet posts.

"It's such a great pool of talent to pick from," said Equal Voice executive director Francoise Gagnon.

Better representation for Quebec, however, could prove problematic for the minority Conservative government, which has an eye on improving its fortunes in la belle province in the next election.

The Tories had hoped to double their seats in the vote-rich province from the 11 held, but ended up down one seat. Four of the current cabinet ministers are from Quebec.

"The prime minister is very close to forming a majority government. He's only a dozen seats short, so he's got to be looking at Quebec, figuring, 'How can I recalibrate things to incrementally move the dial in that province?' " said Nanos.

But the Conservatives will not concentrate their attention solely on Quebec in hopes of securing an elusive majority, Nanos said.

"I think the prime minister is not going to be looking just at Quebec but also his city strategy because the cities remain the last bastion for the Liberal party right now," he said.

With breakthroughs in the Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area, Harper may hand them representation at the cabinet table.

Parliament is scheduled to resume on Nov. 18 and Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean will deliver a throne speech outlining the government's priorities the next day.

A Prime Minister's Office official said global economic instability and its negative impact on Canada will "dominate the life of the government and this Parliament."

The Conservatives won 143 of the 308 House of Commons seats in the Oct. 14 election.