Canada: International relations, defense and foreign policy December 2025-

Canada – China August 2023-

January 2026
Canada’s Foreign Policy Priorities and Global Reputation
As the geopolitical situation around the world continues to evolve, Canadians are rethinking their nation’s role on the world stage just as the world is evaluating Canada’s role. Recent public opinion research in Canada and across 32 other countries and territories by the Canadian International Council (CIC) and GlobeScan reveals:
• A Canadian population eager to move beyond an alliance with the US, seeking a foreign policy that champions economic resilience, climate leadership, and constructive engagement with a diverse array of partners;
… A Strategic Foreign Policy Alignment
(Globe & Mail) Canadians are increasingly aware that their country’s global reputation is not only symbolic but also strategic. In a time of shifting alliances, climate urgency, and rising global tensions, Canada’s ability to influence international outcomes depends on how it is perceived abroad. The fact that Canada is viewed more positively than any other major country increases Canada’s potential to grow and leverage soft power. At the same time, Canadians’ evolving priorities, from climate action to economic resilience, reflect a desire for a foreign policy that is both principled and pragmatic. This is a critical moment for Canada, as public opinion is aligned with the opportunity to use its reputation capital to advance the values and interests that Canadians care about most.
Jeremy Kinsman: It’s clear Carney is now dealing with the world ‘as it is’

6 July
Carney Cites NATO, Melting Arctic as Germany Wins Submarine Contract
Takeaways by Bloomberg AI
– Prime Minister Mark Carney stressed the importance of working with NATO allies to defend against growing threats in the melting Arctic as he chose a German-Norwegian offer to build a new fleet of submarines for Canada’s navy.
– Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems is the preferred supplier to build the submarines, which will be “one of the stealthiest submarines in the world” and can travel underwater for 40 days in near-total silence.
– The contract is Canada’s largest-ever military procurement, worth “tens of billions” of dollars, and is expected to boost Canada’s industrial and technology base, with the province of Manitoba and Montreal contributing to the project.
TKMS won the bid with a submarine that will be “one of the stealthiest submarines in the world” and can travel underwater for 40 days in near-total silence, the government said. It’s ideal for operations in Arctic waters and is compatible with vessels run by other NATO allies, Carney said.

30 June – 3 July
AI Overview
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is attending the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, scheduled for July 7 and 8, 2026. His primary initiative at the summit is to campaign for ally support in establishing the Defense, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB)—a multinational financial institution
Prime Minister Carney to attend the NATO Summit in Türkiye and visit Saudi Arabia to deepen trade, technology, and defence partnerships
(Prime Minister) At the NATO Summit, the Prime Minister will further strengthen Canada’s contributions to the NATO Alliance, forge new partnerships with Allies, and build shared security, including in defence of Ukraine. In one year, Canada has made the largest increase in defence investment in a generation, achieved NATO’s 2% defence expenditure target, and we are on track to meet NATO’s 5% defence expenditure target by 2035. Canada is now the first non-European member of the European Union’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative, and through Operation REASSURANCE, we have deployed our largest sustained military presence in Europe in more than 30 years.
The Prime Minister will then visit Saudi Arabia, where he will meet with the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman. The Prime Minister and the Crown Prince will deepen the Canada-Saudi Arabia partnership across energy, critical minerals, defence, infrastructure, and investment. These efforts will focus on expanding trade, promoting two-way investment, and advancing cooperation in priority sectors, including mining, artificial intelligence, cleantech, agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, and life sciences.
‘It’s Not Going to Stop a Hypersonic Missile’: The End of Canada Nice
Unable to rely on Trump’s America, Canadians are growing more militaristic. But at what cost?
(Politico) … As the world gets darker and more uncertain outside their borders, Canadians are increasingly embracing the need for a more muscular national defense. …
The bump in recruitment also complements Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s plan to boost defense spending by tens of billions of dollars and pull Canada even with NATO’s defense spending target, after decades as a laggard in the alliance. He’s released a comprehensive industrial defense strategy to rearm the military — envisioning new fleets of submarines and destroyers, a new class of fighter jets and a national ammunition stockpile. And he has sweetened the pot for service members with 20 percent pay raises and promises of better military housing and social services.
..If Canada is boosting defense spending, it almost certainly means budget cuts in other areas. Perhaps foreign aid gets hit, which might not raise too many eyebrows; trims to the social safety net like health care would most certainly be unpopular.
One way or another, the country’s very conception of itself is going to be tested. Is Canada sacrificing something quintessentially Canadian as it becomes more militaristic?.
… Carney prefaces nearly every major policy announcement by touting it as Canada’s response to a “dangerous and divided world.” But he has also positioned the current disruption as a moment for Canadians to control their own destiny.
Embracing its inner hawk could have some real benefits for Canada. With more troops and tanks, Canada would be able to better defend itself, including by working more closely with NATO allies in Europe.
… But for all the public enthusiasm for a newly hawkish stance, there’s also no getting around the fact that it isn’t free.
Carney estimates that reaching NATO’s defense spending target of 5 percent of GDP will cost as much as C$150 billion a year by 2035.
… Canada’s C$12 billion foreign aid budget would get a 15 percent cut under the latest budget proposal.
Trimming Canada’s overseas development assistance won’t come close to matching the sums being discussed for increased military spending, but for now it’s a convenient start that creates far fewer political ripples than slicing health care.
Nonetheless, the proposed cut in foreign aid is striking some as very unCanadian. …
17 February
Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy
… Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy establishes a bold new direction: supported by a new Defence Investment Agency, and applies a BUILD–PARTNER–BUY framework. The Government of Canada will focus first on building in Canada, particularly in areas of key sovereign capability or where Canada already has deep strengths. And when we partner with allies to build together, or buy off-the-shelf, we will do so under conditions that flow back into domestic industry and ensure Canadian sovereign control.

16 June
Carney’s itinerary for day two of G7 summit stacked with meetings with world leaders
The first full day of the 2026 leaders’ summit also includes discussions on conflicts in the Middle East and a drop in foreign aid funding that is forcing the world to rethink how it handles international development.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced new sanctions on Russia during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the G7 summit in France on Tuesday.
After a working session on building peace in Ukraine, the prime minister announced Canada is imposing new sanctions on 162 individuals, entities and vessels tied to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The meeting with Zelenskyy was one of at least five bilateral meetings Carney has scheduled for Tuesday. He’ll also sit down with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, India and South Korea.
After a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the two leaders announced Canada and Italy have entered talks on a purchase of M-346 advanced jet trainer aircraft. It’s not clear how many jets Canada is looking to buy.
… Canadian officials told reporters on background before the trip that Canada’s main priorities for the summit involve critical minerals, macroeconomic imbalances and reforming foreign aid.
The officials said a key challenge is that many of the macroeconomic imbalances stem from China’s industrial overcapacity.

13-14 June
Joint statement on advancing the Canada-Ireland Partnership
(Prime Minister of Canada) The Taoiseach, Micheál Martin T.D., today welcomed the Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Mark Carney, to Dublin. The leaders reaffirmed the deep and enduring relationship between Canada and Ireland, rooted in shared history, democratic values, close people-to-people and business ties, and a common commitment to international law, human rights, democracy, rule of law, transatlantic relations and multilateral cooperation. The leaders underscored the growing partnership between Canada and the European Union and the opportunity to expand it even further during Ireland’s Presidency of the Council, beginning on July 1, 2026. The two leaders recognised Canada’s long-standing contribution to peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland. This legacy is recognised in the De Chastelain Scholarship Programme, jointly supported by the Governments of Canada and Ireland.
Building on their Joint Statement of September 25, 2025, the leaders reaffirmed the strength of the strategic and economic partnership between Canada and Ireland and agreed a framework to deepen bilateral cooperation, strengthen economic resilience, enhance long-term competitiveness, and advance shared strategic interests including through deeper cooperation on economic security, trusted supply chains and strategic technologies. To further drive strategic cooperation and unlock new opportunities for our people and businesses across the Atlantic, they agreed the following priority areas for further cooperation…
Carney post on X
Today in Westport, County Mayo, President Connolly and I spoke about the flourishing Canada-Ireland relationship.
Next year marks 180 years since the largest wave of Irish people came to Canada — the start of a proud community that is nearly 5 million strong today.
Ahead of G7, Carney says no one country will characterize new world order
Some nations on the same page on issues like AI, child safety, says Carney in Ireland
(CBC) The United States will play a role in a new world order where no one institution or country will have all the answers, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday.
“What one can’t do at this point in a rapidly shifting world order is to rely on one set of institutions, one grouping, one country to provide the answers,” he said during a visit to Ireland, ahead of Monday’s G7 meeting in Evian-les-Bains, France.

12 June
Canada and France to deepen intelligence exchanges, Carney says in Paris
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced in a joint statement alongside French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday that Canada and France will deepen their defence and industrial co-operation through a new general security of information agreement.
From Water Bombers to Quantum Computers: Inside Canada and France’s Deepening Alliance
(Brief Glance) Amid the gilded halls of the Élysée Palace, handshakes between leaders are common political theatre. Yet the series of agreements announced today following Prime Minister Mark Carney’s meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron represent something more substantial: the deliberate forging of a pragmatic, multi-layered alliance designed to navigate a world increasingly defined by instability and technological disruption.
While the official communique speaks of shared values and historic ties, the tangible outcomes point to a strategic recalibration. The pacts, spanning advanced defence cooperation, quantum computing, and climate resilience, are not merely diplomatic pleasantries. They are the foundational pillars of a renewed Canadian foreign policy—one that seeks to build tangible strength at home by deepening partnerships with trusted, like-minded allies abroad. As Prime Minister Carney stated, “In a more dangerous and divided world, Canada’s relationship with France is ever more important.” The details of these agreements reveal just how important that relationship is becoming.
Prime Minister Carney deepens partnership with France across trade, defence, and advanced technologies
In a more dangerous and divided world, Canada is building our strength at home and diversifying our partnerships abroad, including across Europe. We are deepening our cooperation across sectors and multilateral forums so that Canada and Europe can be pivotal, powerful, and a force for good.
France is one of Canada’s closest and longest-standing economic and security partners – and that partnership is reflected in our countries’ deep ties. Bilateral trade has grown by nearly two-thirds over the past decade, and France is now Canada’s third-largest export market in the European Union (EU).

7-11 June
Carney heads to Europe for G7 summit as U.S. and Israel-Iran war escalates
‘It’s a G6 in all but name,’ says international affairs expert
One year after hosting the G7 summit in Alberta, Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to rejoin world leaders — including U.S. President Donald Trump — for their first meeting since the start of the U.S.-Israeli offensive in Iran.
Carney will attend the G7 leaders’ summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, from June 15 to 17.
It’s part of a larger trip to Europe — Carney’s ninth visit to the continent since being elected prime minister — that will also see him meeting leaders in France and Ireland. He departs on Thursday evening.
Prime Minister Carney to travel to France, Ireland, and the 2026 G7 Leaders’ Summit to deepen Canada’s partnerships across trade, defence, and technology

27 May
Canada negotiating to buy Saab’s GlobalEye airborne early warning aircraft
Carney says plane will be key resource for Canadian Armed Forces in the Arctic
The system is built on a Bombardier 6500 executive jet with Saab radar and sensors. The jet is manufactured at the company’s plant in Toronto.
Saab had bundled its surveillance aircraft proposal in with its pitch to sell Gripen-E fighter jets to Canada and promised to transfer technology so both aircraft could be fully manufactured locally. Carney did not say anything about whether Canada will proceed with the Gripen and limit its purchase of American-made F-35 jets.
German submarine bid promises Canada $86B economic boost and tens of thousands of jobs
Proposal ties Arctic defence to NATO integration
An average of up to 50,000 jobs could be created in Canada over the next five years should the federal government opt to buy the German-made Type 212CD submarine, CBC News has learned.
Up until this point in the fierce competition over the navy’s new submarines, both the German and Norwegian governments and the builder, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), have been reluctant to reveal strict details of the potential economic benefits that could accrue from their proposal.
Competition for the multi-billion dollar contract has become intense. Last weekend, the South Korean submarine ROKS Dosan Ahn Chang-ho arrived off the B.C. coast for exercises with the Canadian Navy.
The newly-built 3,000-ton KSS-III submarine is the kind Hanwha Ocean wants to sell to Canada.
The federal government has told both bidders that it intends to make a decision by the end of June.
Canada secures first European LNG deal
In an uncertain and rapidly shifting global economy, Canada is diversifying our trading partners and securing access to new markets as part of our mission to double non-U.S. trade. We are acting with urgency to retool our economy, get major projects built, and position Canada as a trusted energy supplier to partners around the world.
Today, the Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced an agreement between Ksi Lisims LNG and SEFE (Securing Energy for Europe) of Germany, bringing long‑term supply of low-carbon Canadian LNG to a European buyer for the first time. Under the agreement, SEFE will purchase one million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG for up to 20 years, with deliveries expected to begin by the early 2030s.
Canada turns from US to Europe as Iran war propels aluminium higher
Europe faces 5.6 million-ton aluminium deficit – BofA says
EU’s deficit exceeds both US and global shortfalls – BofA says
Canadian aluminium exports to EU soared 276% last year – TDM
US Midwest premium must rise further to win back Canadian metal
(Reuters) – Canada is pushing more of its aluminium towards Europe to make the ​most of higher premiums on offer, after its neighbour the United States imposed a 50% tariff on the metal last year.

John Stackhouse, head of RBC’s Economics and Thought Leadership group, leading the organization’s work on economic, technological and social issues. He also heads the new RBC Climate Action Institute, which aims to inform and inspire Canadians on pathways to net zero. Posted on LinkedIn
“As Canada turns more to Europe — witness the big announcements today with Sweden and Germany — Ireland will be a key partner. And not just because so many of us have roots there. We’re both relatively small, globally-minded nations that have long served as valuable gateways to our continents.
In that spirit, I sat down with a delegation of CEOs from Ireland for a candid conversation about where Canada may be headed in this new global order. Three points:
➡️Canada will continue to be a leading ally and trade partner with the United States. We are not decoupling, but we are diversifying. A revised CUSMA can help Canada and the US prosper even more, together and separately. Europe can benefit from that, with Canada as a bridge for Atlantic trade and investment.
➡️Canada will continue to evolve as an AI leader, blending innovation and responsibility. None of us will disconnect from US platforms but we can help those platforms develop sovereign models that can work in Europe and elsewhere. Ottawa is now backing that view with a $2 billion Sovereign Compute Strategy. Dublin is wrestling with the same questions from the opposite end of the wire.
➡️Canada needs to become a bigger defence and security partner, in Europe and North America. Security Action for Europe (SAFE) makes Canada the first non-European member of a €150 billion EU defence procurement instrument. But equally true, the U.S. core — NORAD, Five Eyes, NATO interoperability — is not moving.
Canada and Ireland can work together on trade, technology and defence to ensure we’re both key to the peace and prosperity of the North Atlantic.”

4-5 May
Jeremy Kinsman: Canada’s Changing Relationship Status with Europe
(Policy) In Yerevan, Armenia, on Monday, Prime Minister Mark Carney — the first non-European leader invited to attend a European Political Community Summit — articulated the role Europe might play in a post-American liberal order.
“It is my strong personal view that the international order will be rebuilt,” Carney told the gathering, “but it will be rebuilt out of Europe.”
In the face of America’s alienation from the rules-based international order that Washington helped build and led for eight decades, Canada — what might now be known fondly across the Atlantic as “the other North America” — is shifting more closely into the EU’s orbit.
Or, as New York Times Canada Bureau Chief Matina Stevis-Gridneff wrote in her May 4th piece from Yerevan: “Canada and the European Union are turning commiseration and anxiety over their turbulent relationships with the United States under President Trump into a deepening bond.”
Carney Pulls Canada Closer to Europe as Both Struggle With Trump
At a summit of European leaders, the Canadian prime minister was a special guest offering deals and friendship to jittery allies.
(NYT) Canada and the European Union are turning commiseration and anxiety over their turbulent relationships with the United States under President Trump into a deepening bond.
On Monday, Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada joined a summit of European leaders in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, putting his country at the heart of some of Europe’s biggest priorities. He was the first non-European head of government to be invited to the gathering, known as the European Political Community summit.

30 April
Ottawa announces multinational defence bank to be headquartered in Canada
(Global) Canada has been selected to host a multinational bank to provide “long-term, low-cost financing” for defence projects by NATO members and allies, the federal government said Wednesday…following the end of multinational negotiations earlier Wednesday that were hosted in Montreal.
A news release issued late Wednesday says the defence bank will allow member countries, including Canada, to leverage shared resources to “meet today’s defence challenges.” …
(CBC) …the multinational Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB)…is a multilateral institution focused on financing defence, security and resilience projects for NATO members and allied nations.
It’s estimated that securing the bank could create 3,500 jobs in defence finance, international operations and specialized research and analysis.
Four cities — Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver — have put themselves forward as possible hosts for the DSRB. The federal government will decide where the headquarters will be located.
The bank’s services would include providing long-term credit and helping to streamline the process of multiple countries buying defence resources together.

20 April
Jeremy Kinsman: Carney’s Diplomacy for a Changed World – ‘Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man’
partners abroad increasingly perceive Canada quite favourably as “the other North America,”
(Policy) …over the past year, Mark Carney has become the face of Canada abroad, identified with both competence and security. He didn’t defend Canada from Trump’s threats and tariff coercion by pleading for a less-bad tariff deal from the U.S., hoping to buy predictability from a protection racket.
… Canada has worked to cement privileged relations with Europe for more than half a century. On the policy level, we attained “strategic partner” status with the EU in 2016 and agreed an enhanced and updated Strategic Partnership Agreement last June. We enjoy a far-reaching Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Our commitment to join Europeans in the coalition of the willing to defend and help rebuild Ukraine reinforces Canada’s trans-Atlantic solidarity.Europe is a natural, comprehensively compatible partner because of NATO links, and values convergence. Carney’s foreign itinerary in year one reflected our particular compatibility with Nordic countries, in-built partners for Arctic development and protection.Recently, polls have shown majority support among Canadians for exploring the once-fanciful notion of Canada joining the EU.
Carney has also positioned Canada’s presence more firmly in Indo-Pacific networks, making bilateral visits to Beijing, Delhi, Tokyo, and Singapore, and attending the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, and the APEC Summit in Seoul. Carney’s visits to China and to India re-set pragmatic relations on a positive track with these economic and geopolitical heavyweights after the bilateral dislocations of the last decade.One year into Carney’s deft navigation of a new geopolitical status quo, partners abroad increasingly perceive Canada quite favourably as “the other North America,” seeking beneficial common ground.
Mark Carney has described clearly what has to be done at this generational junction in world affairs and national interests. Getting it done relies on both our transformative capacities at home, and our diplomatic reach abroad.

27 April
Discours de Stéphane Dion au Débat Jean Monnet 2026 – Le Canada et l’Union européenne : se rapprocher sans fusionner
co-organisé avec le McGill Institute for the Study of Canada et la McGill School of Continuing Studies
Je m’adresse à vous à un moment où les Canadiens et les Européens sentent le besoin de se rapprocher les uns des autres et je suis un partisan enthousiaste de ce rapprochement. Pourtant, je ne me joins pas à ceux qui préconisent l’entrée du Canada dans l’Union européenne. Pour les raisons que je vais exposer, cette idée est à la fois irréaliste et non souhaitable.
Donc, mon exposé sera en deux parties : D’abord, oui au rapprochement. Puis, non à la fusion. En conclusion, je ferai une proposition pour répondre de façon adéquate au besoin de rapprochement, proposition que j’ai déjà avancée et à laquelle je crois beaucoup : que le Canada adhère, plutôt qu’à l’Union européenne, à la Communauté politique européenne.

10 April
When diplomacy disappears (podcast)
What do countries lose when they no longer have diplomats on the ground? Louise Blais, Jeremy Kinsman and Peter Donolo examine how the absence of embassies and diplomatic relations can distort judgment, weaken consular protection and leave governments relying on weaker intelligence, intermediaries and guesswork.
Using the long American absence from Iran and Canada’s own experience closing missions abroad, they ask what is really lost when states withdraw their diplomatic presence, and whether a country that wants to matter in the world can afford to keep hollowing out its foreign service.

30 March
Carney renews Canada’s relationship with the Aga Khan
Bob Rae
The Imamat is not a bilateral file. It is a global network with deep roots in Canadian life, and it deserves to be treated accordingly.
(Globe & Mail) … The international dimensions of the declaration carry equal weight. Through a new Economic Partnership Platform, FinDev Canada and the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development will pool public and private capital to invest in infrastructure, renewable energy, agriculture, and financial institutions across sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia Pacific. This is Canada aligning its development finance capacity with one of the world’s most effective and experienced private development networks – an organization that has been doing painstaking, unglamorous, institution-building work in fragile states for decades. The two sides also committed to joint programming in Syria, addressing immediate recovery needs alongside longer-term sustainable development.
At a moment when the international order is under sustained pressure, this kind of concrete coalition between a G7 government and a globally embedded civil institution is exactly what responsible middle-power leadership looks like. …
Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, Ottawa

Finance Minister to visit China on trade-diversification mission
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne is leading a trade-diversification mission to China this week, expanding on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent trip to that country aimed at resetting strained bilateral ties. Mr. Champagne will meet senior Chinese finance and banking officials during a visit from April 1 to 4. China is expected to reciprocate with an investment delegation to Canada later this year.
Brian Tobin, vice-chair of BMO Financial Group and a former Newfoundland premier, said Ottawa’s move could open the door to significant Chinese investment in Canada.
Mr. Tobin said Canadians can expect the Trump administration to object to increased trade with China during negotiations to renew the United States-Mexico-Canada free-trade agreement.
But he noted that Canadians must keep in mind that Donald Trump also wants to boost economic relations with Beijing.

2 March
Carney Meets Modi in New Delhi, Marking New Chapter in Ties
(Bloomberg) Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to boost cooperation in trade and supply chains during Carney’s first official visit to India, as the two nations look to reset relations following years of strain.
Among a slate of initiatives, Carney announced a C$2.6 billion ($1.9 billion) agreement expanding Canada’s uranium shipments to India for nuclear energy generation. The two sides also finalized the terms of reference for a trade deal, underscoring efforts to diversify their trade partnership and curb their dependency on the US.
Carney hailed “a new era of partnership” between the two nations “that will offer generational opportunities to workers and businesses in both of our nations.”
Canada, India sign ‘landmark’ energy deal as CSIS says foreign interference concerns unchanged
(CTV) In a major development to reset relations between Canada and India, the two countries’ leaders signed several memoranda of understanding including a $2.6-billion nuclear energy deal Monday, while Canada’s spy agency says India is still one of the main perpetrators of foreign interference in Canada.
“We are one family,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said, standing beside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and extending an invitation for the latter to visit Canada.
Carney’s office said Modi accepted the invitation, but there is no timeline for a visit.
Later on Monday — and for the first time after being asked a number of times earlier in the trip — Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand pushed back on comments a Canadian government official made last week, suggesting India was no longer actively involved in foreign interference or transnational regression.
18 June 2025
India accused of being main perpetrator of foreign interference by CSIS
A new report from Canada’s spy agency calls India one of the “main perpetrators” of foreign interference and espionage, as Canada and India moved to strengthen ties at this week’s G7 meeting.
The new annually released public report from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) called links between the Government of India and the 2023 murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar a “significant escalation in India’s repression efforts against the Khalistan movement and a clear intent to target individuals in North America.”
4 March
Canadian PM Mark Carney offers to team up with Australia as ‘strategic cousins’ to push back against dominant superpowers
Visiting PM tells Australia’s parliament ‘middle power’ countries must work together on defence, trade and AI
Canada and Australia will be stronger negotiating together with superpowers including Donald Trump’s America, acting as “strategic cousins” rather than competitors, Mark Carney has told the Australian federal parliament.
In a major address in Canberra on the last full day of his visit to Australia, the Canadian prime minister called for enhanced cooperation on critical minerals, defence and trade, and announced Australia would join the G7 critical minerals alliance, the largest grouping of democratic countries with major reserves in the world.
Canada, allies must seek diplomatic, long-term solutions to Iran war: Bob Rae | Power & Politics (video)

3 March
Carney reaffirms Canada’s support for strikes on Iran ‘with regret’
(Global) Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday reaffirmed Canada’s support for U.S. and Israeli efforts to eliminate Iran’s nuclear and terrorist threats, but added it was a position taken “with regret” and suggested the decision to attack Iran was “inconsistent with international law.”
Speaking to reporters in Canberra, Australia, during his three-country international trip, Carney said the growing Middle East conflict “is another example of the failure of the international order” that he warned about in his widely-watched speech in Davos in January.
“We support efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security,” he said. “Because Canada is taking the world as it is, not passively waiting for a world we wish to be.
“We do, however, take this position with regret because the current conflict is another example of the failure of the international order,” Carney continued.

28 February
Carney says Canada supports U.S. Iran attacks, but doesn’t envision combat role
The prime minister doesn’t envision any combat role for Canadian forces
As the United States and Israel launched a major assault on Iran, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Saturday that Canada supports the attempt to stop Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon and urged Canadians in the country to shelter in place.
“Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security, and the Canadian government urges the protection of all civilians in this conflict,” said Carney,
Statement by Prime Minister Carney and Minister Anand on the situation in the Middle East
Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security.
Canada’s position remains clear: the Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East, has one of the world’s worst human rights records, and must never be allowed to obtain or develop nuclear weapons.
Canada and our international partners have consistently called upon the Iranian regime to end its nuclear program, including at the 2025 G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis and with the United Nations’ reimposition of sanctions in September.
Despite diplomatic efforts, Iran has neither fully dismantled its nuclear program, halted all enrichment activities, nor ended its support for regional terrorist proxy groups. Canada stands with the Iranian people in their long and courageous struggle against Iran’s oppressive regime. Canada has listed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity, and has sanctioned 256 Iranian entities and 222 individuals in response to the regime’s repression and its violence both against its own people, and persistently, beyond its borders. Canada reaffirms Israel’s right to defend itself and to ensure the security of its people.
Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security.

26 February
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visits India to restore relations and diversify away from US
(AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is making his first trip to India this week in his latest effort to diversify trade away from the United States and restore relations with the world’s fourth-largest economy.
Carney was set to arrive in Mumbai on Friday after his plane left Ottawa on Thursday. He will also visit Australia and Japan next week.
“Donald Trump’s rhetoric and policies are clearly pushing Canada to diversify its economic and trade relations, not only with other non-US Western countries but also countries like China and India,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.
India and Canada agreed to restore diplomatic services last year after Ottawa accused New Delhi in 2023 of alleged involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader, which turned into a row that placed major strains on the relations between the two countries.

17 February
Canada is facing numerous threats, Carney says as he outlines new defence strategy
Prime minister announces plan at Montreal’s CAE flight-simulator plant and pilot-training centre.
Standing before a backdrop of employees at Montreal’s CAE flight-simulator plant and pilot-training centre, Prime Minister Mark Carney officially announced Canada’s new $500-billion “Defence Industrial Strategy” to supply the military and increase Canada’s domestic defence industry.
“We know that the world has changed and Canada must change with it,” Carney said Tuesday as he outlined the plan, which focuses on building more military equipment at home, increases defence contracts awarded to Canadian firms and aims to add 125,000 jobs and over half a trillion dollars in investments over the next 10 years.
Montreal, with its large aerospace sector, hundreds of research facilities and location in a province rich in critical minerals crucial to defence technology, could stand to benefit from the federal government’s intentions. The government will be starting by concentrating on areas that have experience in defence technology.
“The obvious example, we’re in the middle of it,” Carney said, gesturing to the CAE staffers. “Quebec and Canada have proven strength in aircraft, aircraft engines, parts, simulation. With CAE, we are the world leaders in simulators and training.”
12 February
The F-35 Debate Is Really about How We Killed the Avro Arrow
The deliberate destruction of Canada’s homegrown fighter jet haunts our standoff with Washington
Wes O’Donnell
Canada doesn’t talk about the Avro Arrow because it’s nostalgic. It talks about the Arrow because it’s unfinished business. Every time Ottawa finds itself boxed in on defence procurement, every time the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) tries to remind Canada who it thinks really owns North American air power, the Arrow reappears. It doesn’t show up as an engineering debate or a budget line. It shows up as a question of sovereignty.
On February 20, 1959, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s government cancelled the Arrow and the Iroquois engine program.
Canada could not afford everything. The Diefenbaker government chose a path that favoured missiles, alliance integration, and cost control over domestic aerospace ambition. …

20-24 January
Davos 2026: Special address by Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada
Carney emphasized the end of the rules-based international order and outlined how Canada was adapting by building strategic autonomy while maintaining values like human rights and sovereignty.
The Canadian PM called for middle powers, such as his own, to work together to counter the rise of hard power and the great power rivalry, in order to build a more cooperative, resilient world.
Mark Carney Takes On Donald Trump and Emerges as a Global Political Star
(NYT Canada Newsletter) At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the prime minister was praised for his blunt talk about the president’s irrevocable “rupture” in the world order.
the spectators twice broke into applause after Mr. Carney called out Mr. Trump’s policies, particularly his desire to control Greenland. Then, at the end, they rose for a long standing ovation.
“I don’t think I’ve seen many standing ovations in Davos,” Gideon Rachman, a columnist for The Financial Times, said before beginning an onstage interview with Mr. Carney. “That was interesting.”
James Fallows: A Speech for the History Books.
And for the here and now. A memorable discourse on America’s place in the world, by the leader of a US neighbor and former friend

Finance minister says Canada will not pay $1B US if it joins Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’
Carney says he agreed in principle to join, but details have not been finalized

16-19 January
Carney says Qatar will make ‘significant’ investments in Canada’s major projects
Carney said after years of stalled negotiations, Canada aims to finalize the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with Qatar by this summer. Canada will also install a defence attaché in Doha to deepen partnerships on defence.
Mark Carney Instagram post:
Qatar is a natural partner for Canada in many ways. We’re both ambitious builders and forces for peace and stability around the world.
So we’re going to cooperate more on AI, tech, and defence, and make it easier for Canadians and Qataris to do business together. This is a new, strategic partnership that will create more innovation, more opportunities, and more prosperity for both our peoples.Qatar is a natural partner for Canada in many ways. We’re both ambitious builders and forces for peace and stability around the world.
Carney visiting Qatar to drum up investment despite ‘brutal’ human rights record
(Canadian Press) “Today, the epicentre of diplomatic, economic, financial and commercial power in the Middle East is in the Gulf,” said University of Ottawa professor Thomas Juneau, an expert on the Persian Gulf.
“For Canada to neglect the region, as it did for the past 10 years, is a way to erase ourselves from the equation in the Middle East.”
Carney’s office said he will be seeking more trade access and partnerships in artificial intelligence, infrastructure, energy and defence while in Qatar.
The visit comes after Carney landed a large investment deal during a trip to the United Arab Emirates last November, where Abu Dhabi officials restricted media access to almost all his events.
Qatar is an American ally that has taken on increasing diplomatic importance. It hosted negotiations between Israel and Hamas and assisted Canada’s work to bring Ukrainian children abducted by Russia back to their families.

17 January
Foreign automakers who build vehicles in Canada will get preferential market access, official says
Under Ottawa’s new auto policy, foreign companies that make cars in Canada will have more favourable access to the Canadian market than those that choose to import cars assembled outside the country, the official said.

16 January
Canada to allow Chinese EVs to trickle in while China reduces canola tariffs
On Thursday in Beijing, Carney ushered in a ‘new era’ in the Sino-Canadian relationship
(National Post) Certain Canadian canola products, seafoods and even Canadians will soon flow faster to China, while Chinese electric vehicles will begin trickling into Canada virtually tariff-free, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced hours after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump reverses course, supports Canada-China trade deal
(CTV) “Well, it’s OK. That’s what he should be doing,” Trump told reporters Friday at the White House. “If you can get a deal with China, you should do that.”
Earlier in the day, Trump’s own administration shared conflicting messaging regarding the deal, saying Canada may regret the decision. …
Carney framed the deal as the beginning of a broader strategic partnership that also includes expanding tourism, cultural ties and a commitment from China to allow visa-free travel for Canadians.
The changes are especially significant for Canada’s farm sector. According to Carney, China is expected to cut tariffs on Canadian canola seed to 15 per cent from as high as 84 per cent by March 1, calling it “enormous progress.”
Chinese “anti-discrimination” tariffs on Canadian canola meal, lobster, crabs, and peas will be lifted from March through at least the end of the year, though canola oil will remain subject to a 100 per cent tariff.
The deal reopens access to one of Canada’s most important export markets, with China ranking as the second-largest buyer of Canadian canola after the U.S., and the world’s largest market for peas.
In exchange, Ottawa is opening limited space for Chinese EVs in the Canadian market.

Carney accepts Trump’s invitation to join ‘Board of Peace’ on future of Gaza, official says
Steven Chase, Senior parliamentary reporter
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has accepted an invitation to join U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” on the future of Gaza, a senior government official said Saturday.
The White House on Friday announced other names on the board that will, under Mr. Trump’s plan, supervise the temporary governance of Gaza, which continues to see deadly violence despite a fragile ceasefire that went into effect in October.
The names announced by the White House Friday included U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Mr. Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, former British prime minister Tony Blair and the U.S. President’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

12-13 January
America is Turning on the Rules-Based World Order. Can Canada Pivot?
Jeremy Kinsman
(Policy) …soul-searching is going on, over the contours and meaning of the changed world we have before us. Leaders and foreign policy thinkers are recognizing that transatlantic democracies need to reinforce their commitment to international rules-based cooperation, without the U.S. if necessary.
Prime Minister Carney knows that Canada has to put in the hard work to survive, diversify, and thrive in these new configurations, with the U.S., with the world, and with our internationalist convictions, and with an urgency we hadn’t expected.

The Trade Minefield of Carney’s China Visit
By Fen Osler Hampson
Prime Minister Mark Carney heads to Beijing this week with the goal of easing Sino-Canadian tensions and boosting trade. But he is also walking into a political minefield—one laid not just by the Chinese but also Washington.
The biggest minefield right now is the EV-Canola trade war.

What Mark Carney’s China trip could mean for the future of Canadian-Chinese relations
Ye Xue, Research Fellow, China Institute, University of Alberta
(The Conversation) Foreign Minister Anita Anand’s visit to Beijing, together with Carney and Xi’s informal meeting on the margins of the APEC summit last October, suggests that the groundwork now exists for a serious stabilization of Canada–China relations.
Carney’s visit to China this week builds on this emerging momentum.

8 January
Carney to travel to Qatar next week alongside trips to China, Switzerland
(Canadian Press/Bloomberg) Prime Minister Mark Carney will travel to Doha, Qatar on Jan. 18 for a bilateral visit as he seeks to broaden trade relations and drum up foreign investment.
It’s part of a broader diplomatic trip that will include stops in China and Switzerland, and Carney’s office says he will be the first sitting Canadian prime minister to visit the middle eastern country.
The Prime Minister’s Office confirms Carney will meet with Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, along with various business officials and investors.
The office says Carney is seeking to create new partnerships in areas such as artificial intelligence, infrastructure, energy and security.
Carney will make the stop in Qatar after visiting Beijing for several days, and ahead of jetting off to Davos, Switzerland, where he will attend the World Economic Forum from Jan. 19 to 21.