Updated:
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will travel to Ankara and Istanbul from October 21 to 23 for meetings focused on trade, investment, energy and defence, his office announced Tuesday. The trip is intended to deepen Canada’s partnership with Türkiye as Ottawa pursues broader economic relationships abroad.
Carney is due to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara and Turkish business leaders and investors in Istanbul. The visit will be the first bilateral visit to Türkiye by a Canadian prime minister, according to the Canadian government; Carney was in Ankara in July for the NATO summit.
Trade and investment on the agenda
In Istanbul, Carney will promote Canada as a trade and investment partner, with the Canadian government identifying energy, aerospace, advanced technologies, mining and critical minerals as sectors for potential growth. In Ankara, the leaders are expected to address energy and mining, climate, defence and security, and people-to-people ties.
Two-way merchandise trade reached C$4.3 billion in 2025, the prime minister’s office said. Canadian exports accounted for C$1.1 billion, while imports from Türkiye totalled C$3.2 billion. The government also said bilateral trade has risen by almost 50% over five years, though its announcement did not specify the measure or provide a year-by-year breakdown.
Free-trade negotiations began in July
The visit follows a July 7 meeting between Carney and Erdoğan on the margins of the NATO summit in Ankara, when the two governments formally launched negotiations toward a comprehensive free-trade agreement. The leaders’ joint statement said technical teams would work to define the agreement’s scope and prepare for the first round of negotiations.
Canada’s government said public consultations on the proposed agreement concluded in September. No negotiating timetable, text or target date for completing the talks was included in Tuesday’s visit announcement. The trip comes as negotiations remain a work in progress, rather than an agreement ready for signature.
A broader partnership beyond commerce
The Canadian government describes Türkiye as an important partner in part because both countries are NATO members and G20 participants. Ottawa said the countries have maintained diplomatic relations since 1944 and cooperate through multilateral organizations including the United Nations and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Defence cooperation is also part of the agenda. Investing.com reported that Türkiye has agreed to join Canada’s Defence, Security and Resilience Bank as one of 10 founding member nations. The proposed multilateral initiative is intended to strengthen defence-industrial capacity and resilience among partner countries.
What is scheduled next
The immediate next step is Carney’s three-day visit, with meetings planned in Ankara and Istanbul. The Canadian announcement names the sectors and participants but does not detail specific commercial agreements, investment commitments or defence measures expected to be announced during the trip.
The two governments have said their technical teams are preparing for the first round of FTA negotiations, but have not published a date for that round or a timetable for concluding a deal. The visit is therefore a diplomatic and business engagement alongside negotiations already launched, with the scope and outcome of any eventual agreement still to be determined.
