OTTAWA – Former U.S. secretary of state John Kerry was on the Aga Khan's private Bahamian island while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family were vacationing there, CTV News has confirmed.

It was this Dec. 2016 stay that Trudeau had to apologize for on Wednesday, after Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson found that he had breached multiple federal ethics rules for accepting the trip and using the Aga Khan’s private helicopter.

As part of her findings, Dawson reported that a "senior American official of a previous administration" and friends were present during the Dec. 2016 stay, which spanned from Dec. 26, 2016 to Jan. 4, 2017.

A spokesperson for Trudeau has confirmed to CTV News that that senior U.S. official was Kerry.

Kerry was still a sitting cabinet member in the American administration under former president Barack Obama when he took this trip. While it was after the U.S. election that saw the Republicans rise to power, President Donald Trump had not yet been inaugurated.

A senior government source speaking on background said that Kerry was invited by the Aga Khan, and not Trudeau. The source could not speak to whether Trudeau knew that Kerry would be there.

Trudeau and his family were joined on the Dec. 2016 trip by Liberal MP and now Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan and his husband; as well as Liberal Party president Anna Gainey and her husband.

The commissioner said that Trudeau and his family vacationed at the private island twice, once in Dec. 2014, and then the 2016 holiday trip in question. Members of his family and guests also accepted a March 2016 trip.

In her probe of the Dec. 2016 vacation, Dawson found that the prime minister broke the Conflict of Interest Act in four ways:

Failing to arrange his private affairs to avoid being in conflict of interest;

Accepting the gift of accommodations on the private island, by someone who is registered to lobby his office;

Travelling on non-commercial aircraft charted by the Aga Khan; and

Not recusing himself from discussions that provided an opportunity to further the Aga Khan’s interests.

Responding to Dawson’s report in the House of Commons foyer, Trudeau said he is "sorry" he didn’t take further steps to clear the trip and his dealings with the Aga Khan ahead of time. Trudeau said he will report any family trips in the future.