Canada, allies say they’re ready to help stop Iran’s shipping blockade

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney has endorsed a statement issued by allies expressing a willingness to contribute to efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz more than two weeks into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Carney endorsed the joint statement Thursday shortly after it was published by the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan.

“We express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait. We welcome the commitment of nations who are engaging in preparatory planning,” reads the joint statement.

The statement does not say how the nations propose to help. Defence Minister David McGuinty has said Canada is “considering” aiding Iran’s neighbours to defend themselves if they seek assistance from the NATO alliance.

The statements came as Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told The Canadian Press she will be pitching her G7 peers in Paris on possible diplomatic off-ramps to end the war next week.

In response to the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes launched on its territory last month, Iran limited traffic through the strait — through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas transits — and bombed major fuel shipping sites, causing global oil prices to spike.

At a news conference shortly before the statement was released, McGuinty said again that Canada was not consulted on the war before it began and doesn’t intend to join it. He did not rule out Canadian military involvement.

“If neighbouring states around Iran, in the Middle East and in the Gulf, require the assistance of NATO allies, this is something that NATO allies are considering and Canada is also considering,” he said.

“It’s also a very dangerous situation. It’s changing hour by hour, and it is sometimes difficult to get clear and hard intelligence, so we’re watching it very closely.”

Conservative MP Shuv Majumdar called out the government for joining the Thursday statement after allies had released it.

“He casts himself as a ringleader for middle powers. Instead, objectively, he’s flip-flopping his way through a major crisis,” Majumdar wrote on social media. “Our allies acted, then Carney’s Liberals begged to be read in after the fact. It’s like he has no idea what he’s doing.”

In London, Anand told The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday that she will present a “document of principles” to G7 officials in Paris to encourage “a collective and co-ordinated discussion about off-ramps.”

Anand refused to repeat the term “document of principles” in a Thursday interview with The Canadian Press.

“I would not use that terminology at this time, in order to preserve the trust of our partners,” she said. “For this kind of diplomacy to be effective, it is best to ensure that the conversations remained contained, and that is important in order to reach positive results.”

Anand said she has been reaching out to allies and countries in the Persian Gulf, where Canada has been signing various investment and partnership agreements.

Canada has four priorities on the war in Iran, Anand said Thursday.

“First and foremost, preventing the loss of civilian life. Second, preventing further escalation and reducing the risk of regional spillover. Third, minimizing collateral impacts on nonbelligerent states and civilian populations. And fourth, mitigating global economic shocks, energy, fertilizer and commercial supply chains,” she said.

Anand added that Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz risk not just “very severe” economic impacts but humanitarian crises in poor countries which can’t receive fertilizer or other agricultural goods.

“We have seen those effects already at the fuel pumps,” she said. “But closing the Strait of Hormuz is contrary to international law and to the freedom of navigation. The consequences for countries around the world, including in the region itself, stand to be significant.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2026.

— With files from Kyle Duggan.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press