Mark Carney’s 26 trips abroad: A breakdown of the prime minister’s trade deals and travel after 1 year in office
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Prime Minister Mark Carney is living up to his self-avowed globalist status. Since taking office exactly one year ago, the globetrotting former central banker has been outside of Canada 68 days, or 20 percent of his first year in office.
During the election, Carney promised Canadians he would diversify the nation’s trade globally, and so far he’s been devoting a lot of time to that core plank of his plan. The decision to diversify Canada’s trade makes sense in the uncertain world of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, where the current CUSMA deal is in jeopardy and Canada is in the midst of a trade war with our biggest trading partner.
But has Carney managed to start to pull Canada away from its dependency on trade with America? What results and deliverables has the prime minister actually secured for Canada in the last year for all of the days spent abroad?
The proof is in the pudding. International trade is particularly important for Canada, accounting for roughly 65 percent of GDP. So far Canada’s exports to the U.S. still made up 72 percent of total exports in 2025, down from 76 percent the year prior, driven by a decline of goods sent down south and an increase in products exchanged in other regions, primarily Europe. Although a noteworthy shift, signs suggests the dominance of trade with the U.S. isn’t going away any time soon.
“Exports to the US fell by about 16 percent in 2025 year-over-year, but exports to non-U.S. countries actually rose by about 17 percent,” University of Toronto economics professor Joseph Steinberg told The Hub. “How much of this is temporary reallocation versus long-term diversification is hard to say at this point. And of course, exports to the U.S. account for about three-quarters of our overall total exports, so the latter doesn’t come close to making up for the former.”
Carney’s one-year anniversary in office is this Saturday. He will be overseas again, this time in Norway, trying to wheel and deal with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store on investment, trade, critical minerals, clean energy, and more. After that he will be hopping to London and Rome for a March break vacation.
The Hub compiled a list of the 26 travel trips Carney has made so far to other countries (each country visit is counted as a separate trip). We want to understand what deals and partnerships he’s made with foreign nations to see if these new trade avenues will have a material impact back home, and just how soon they could take effect.
Is all of Carney’s journeys to foreign lands bearing fruit, or are they mainly airy flights of fancy?
Trip 1: France (March 16, 2025)
After only being in office for a couple days, Carney flew to meet President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on his first foreign trip as prime minister. He and the French president announced closer Canada-France cooperation on intelligence and security, while reaffirming the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) by agreeing to further build trade ties.
CETA was ratified back in 2017, and has helped boost Canada-EU trade by 65 percent within seven years. Yet, CETA has not created nearly enough bilateral trade between the two parties to offset Canada’s dependency on trade with the U.S. Carney visiting France didn’t include any new additions to the agreement, like removing exclusions on agriculture, so this trip was more symbolic than one that resulted in a substantive trade deal.
Trip 2: United Kingdom (March 17, 2025)
In London, Carney met Prime Minister Keir Starmer to back up Canada-U.K. economic and defence ties and discuss expanding trade through the Canada-U.K. Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA) and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). No new formal deal was made while the prime minister was in the U.K., but he did take time to visit King Charles at Buckingham Palace.
Trip 3: Vatican City (May 18, 2025)
After spending a couple weeks back home, Carney jetted to Rome for meetings with Italian leaders and officials during a visit centred on diplomatic engagement and strengthening bilateral relations.
While in Rome, Carney attended the inaugural Mass of Pope Leo XIV and met the pontiff alongside other international leaders. Besides reassuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about Canada’s support in his country’s war against Russia, Carney also met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance to discuss bilateral trade between the two countries and tariffs imposed by Trump earlier in the year.
Trip 4: Belgium (June 22–24, 2025)
In Brussels for the Canada-EU Summit, Canada and the European Union announced a strengthened strategic partnership and signed a Canada-EU Security and Defence Partnership, a non-legally binding partnership without a specific timeline for it to take full effect. The trip also included a commitment to further expand CETA and an additional New EU-Canada Strategic Partnership of the Future that sets out other areas for Canada and the EU to increase trade ties.
At the signing, Carney said, “We can nostalgically look back and long for the old order to somehow return, or we can build a new one with purpose and partnership. And as the most European of the non-European countries, Canada looks first to the European Union to build a better world.”
Trip 5: Netherlands (June 24–25, 2025)
Carney then flew to the NATO Summit in The Hague where Canada joined a new alliance defence-spending commitment and discussed NATO support for Ukraine.
Carney also met with European defence suppliers to discuss possible procurement of submarines and jets.
Trip 6: Poland (August 25, 2025)
At the tailend of the summer, Carney flew to Warsaw, Poland (part of the EU), and met with Polish leaders, in an attempt to deepen a Canada-Poland strategic partnership spanning defence cooperation, energy security, and trade.
Carney and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced an “enhanced partnership” in trade, defence, and energy security. However, the discussions only outlined a framework, and no concrete trade agreement was signed.
Trip 7: Germany (August 26, 2025)
Carney met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin to advance the Canada-Germany Critical Minerals Action Plan and broader economic cooperation. They signed a “joint declaration of intent”, but no formal trade deal was made, although Carney did promote Canada’s abundant critical minerals to German leaders and investors.
In the middle of February this year, the prime minister had planned another return trip for Germany for the Munich Security Conference to discuss defence cooperation, energy security, and support for Ukraine, but cancelled his trip after the mass shooting in B.C.
Trip 8: Latvia (August 27, 2025)
In Riga, Carney reaffirmed Canada’s leadership of NATO’s enhanced forward presence and extended Canada’s Operation REASSURANCE mission, launched in 2014 to counter Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Trip 9: Mexico (September 18–19, 2025)
After Carney flew on one of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s nine refurbished Airbus A330-200 aircraft to Mexico City, where he worked with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to launch a strategic partnership and adopted the Canada-Mexico Action Plan 2025-2028 to expand cooperation across trade, security, and sustainability. Not to be confused with a trade deal, the policy framework is more of a roadmap for future partnerships between the two nations, but nothing concrete.
Trip 10: United States (September 21–24, 2025)
Carney attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York, holding bilateral meetings with world leaders and announcing Canada’s new economic partnership agreement with Indonesia. The prime minister and President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto signed the Canada-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which once ratified later this year will reduce or eliminate 95 percent of tariffs on Canadian exports to Indonesia on goods like soybeans, wood, potash, and wheat.
Carney also gave a speech to the UN and announced support Palestinian statehood.
Trip 11: United Kingdom (September 26–27, 2025)
Returning to London for the Global Progress Action Summit, Carney met Starmer and business leaders to promote investment in Canada and deepen economic ties. The two prime ministers discussed future expansion of the CPTPP.
Carney didn’t sign any trade deals or partnerships with other nations while on the trip, but did discuss strengthening the Canada-Australia trade agreement with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Trip 12: United States (October 6–7, 2025)
In Washington, Carney met President Donald Trump and senior U.S. officials to discuss trade disputes and potential agreements covering steel, aluminum, and energy.
Trip 13: Egypt (October 13, 2025)
Carney participated in a Middle East peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh focused on Gaza stabilization, humanitarian relief, and regional diplomacy.
Trip 14: Malaysia (October 25–28, 2025)
At the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Carney pushed forward negotiations toward a Canada-ASEAN free trade agreement and expanded Indo-Pacific economic engagement, where approximately 10 percent of Canadian exports currently go and is Canada’s second biggest trading partner, making up $270 billion in merchandise trade.
Carney met with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and they signed a letter of intent for investment in liquefied natural gas, nuclear, renewable energy, and oil.
The prime minister also had bilateral meetings with the leaders of Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, but no trade agreements were signed with those countries, however Carney’s office claims there was progress towards ratifying a Canada-ASEAN free trade agreement.
Trip 15: Singapore (October 28–29, 2025)
In Singapore, Carney met Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and business leaders to strengthen trade and investment cooperation, but no trade agreement or other treaty-level partnership was signed.
Trip 16: South Korea (October 29–November 1, 2025)
At the APEC summit in Gyeongju, Canada and South Korea announced a new defence and security partnership and celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA). .
Since Carney’s visit, Canada and South Korea signed a defence agreement and a memorandum of understanding, which included investment in manufacturing of Korean batteries and automobiles in Canada.
Although there was no additional trade deal inked, and the auto deal was “scarce on details” per the New York Times, like many of Carney’s foreign trips in the past year the potential for future business deals were initiated.
Trip 17: United Arab Emirates (November 18–20, 2025)
In Abu Dhabi, Canada and the UAE signed a foreign investment promotion and protection agreement and launched negotiations for a broader economic partnership, but without a defined timeline.
The trip ended with an announcement of a $1-billion project for expansion of mining Canada’s critical minerals. The UAE also said it will invest $70 billion in Canada, although they did not provide details. In return, Carney set up representatives for Canada’s pension funds (with $2 trillion in capital) to visit the UAE in 2026.
Trip 18: South Africa (November 21–24, 2025)
Carney attended the G20 Summit in Johannesburg where Canada and South Africa advanced talks toward an investment protection agreement and nuclear cooperation pact, though dates for finalizing these deals were not provided
A report from The Globe and Mail this February found there have been many promises between the two countries but “few trade initiatives have emerged” and “the handful announcements have been skimpy”.
Trip 19: United States (December 5, 2025)
Carney travelled to Washington to attend the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Draw and promote the upcoming tournament hosted jointly by Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.
Trip 20: France (January 5–6, 2026)
Carney joined European leaders in Paris for Ukraine peace negotiations focused on security guarantees and reconstruction.
Trip 21: China (January 13–17, 2026)
In Beijing, Carney announced a new Canada-China strategic partnership and agreements unwinding tariffs on several Canadian agricultural exports by March 1 of this year, including punitive tariffs from the middle of last year on Canadian canola seed from 85 percent to about 15 percent, opening back access to a $4 billion market. China also agreed to lift discriminatory tariffs on lobster, peas, canola meal, crab, and other agricultural products.
In return, Canada’s main concession was to reduce tariffs on Chinese EVs from 100 percent to 6.1 percent for 49,000 units in 2026, with the quota set to expand in subsequent years.
The trade negotiations with a former international adversary also resulted in a framework for expanded two-way investment in clean technology and batteries, energy and natural resources, manufacturing, and agriculture and consumer products.
Although a welcome change in the trade relationship between Canada and China (the second largest economy in the world), as one former Canadian diplomat to China told The Hub, the middle kingdom is known to break trade promises with countries it deems to be frustrating them politically.
Trip 22: Qatar (January 18–19, 2026)
In Doha, Carney further signaled his willingness for our country to build stronger trading relations with autocratic states. Canada and Qatar launched negotiations for an investment treaty and established a new economic cooperation commission.
Carney and Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani announced future partnerships in trade and investment, energy and mining, agriculture, technology and AI, and security and defence.
The prime minister claimed Qatar is committing “significant” investment in Canada but no details on the amount or any actual projects were given in their press release.
Trip 23: Switzerland (January 19–21, 2026)
Carney attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he met global leaders and investors to promote Canadian economic partnerships.
Carney gave his international-headline-grabbing speech about how the middle powers need to band together in the face of a rupturing world order. .
Trip 24: India (February 28–March 2, 2026)
Carney met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, launching negotiations for a Canada-India economic partnership and securing major commercial agreements including a long-term uranium supply deal worth $2.6 billion, where Saskatoon-based Cameco will supply India with 22 million pounds of uranium over nine years.
Modi and Carney announced that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two countries will be further negotiated and (hopefully) concluded later this year, but whether or not CEPA actually gets ratified remains an open question. The Carney government’s goal is to double two-way trade to $70 billion by 2030.
Carney, on this trip, helped repair frosty relations with India and Canada after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admitted in 2023 that there were “credible” allegations that India was involved with the assassination of a Sikh separatist in Canada.
Trip 25: Australia (March 3–6, 2026)
In Canberra and Sydney, Canada and Australia launched a new clean energy partnership and expanded cooperation on critical minerals, AI, and defence.
The two countries also signed an MOU to expand investment between Australia and Canada through the Canadian pension funds and Australian superannuation funds.
Trip 26: Japan (March 6–7, 2026)
In Tokyo, Canada and Japan announced a comprehensive strategic partnership spanning trade, defence cooperation, cybersecurity, and supply chains. The strategic road map included intentions of expanding cooperation in defence, trade and investment, energy, food security, climate, and Arctic protection. A potential main win for Carney may be the intention of increasing the supply of Alberta’s liquified natural gas to Japan.
Carney and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi signed three memoranda but no details for signing concrete deals were made, however they agreed to further strengthen relations on the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
Conclusion
Despite the majority of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s 26 trips to foreign focusing on diversifying trade, no major expansive trade deals have yet been signed.
“In terms of his negotiations with trade agreements with new partners, Carney has made important steps towards diversifying trade but has few concrete accomplishments to point to,” Steinberg told The Hub. “Only one new trade agreement has formally been signed, [with Indonesia], and it has not yet actually been ratified yet.”
Steinberg also pointed to reductions in Chinese agricultural tariffs, but noted that this only brings us back to the 2024 status quo, rather than adding net-new export destinations.
While Steinberg believes Carney is on the right track with signing new trade deals, he says it’s too early to celebrate. He adds that trade with the U.S. should still be Canada’s primary focus.
“I applaud the ongoing discussions with other trade partners, especially India, where I see great long-term potential, but most of these discussions have yet to actually reduce any trade barriers,” Steinberg explained.
“Carney’s primary focus should be on renegotiating CUSMA, or at least keeping it alive until President Trump leaves office. Losing CUSMA would hurt our economy more than any potential trade agreements with other countries could possibly help it.”
While laudable, the economics professor sees diversifying the bulk of Canada’s trade elsewhere outside of the States to be a foolhardy exercise.
Graeme Gordon
Senior Editor & Podcast Producer
Graeme Gordon is The Hub’s Senior Editor and Podcast Producer. He has worked as a journalist contributing to a variety of publications, including CBC, National Post, Canadaland, and Toronto Sun. He’s also a world traveler and previously lived in South Korea.
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