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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney’s quest to strengthen Canada’s ties with Europe continues this week as he takes off for his ninth visit to the continent since being sworn into office a little more than 15 months ago.
Carney will begin the six-day trip in Paris with a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, then continue on to Ireland for meetings with Micheál Martin, the Taoiseach of Ireland, and President Catherine Connolly.
He will end the trip in the French Alps with the annual G7 leaders’ summit in Évian-les-Bains.
Europe plays a dominant role in Carney’s vision for rebuilding the international order and weaning Canada off its decades-long reliance on the United States for trade and security partnerships.
A government official, briefing reporters on background before the trip, said Carney will continue to position Canada as a reliable and constructive partner to Europe during the trip.
Carney and Macron will meet in Paris on Friday. Officials are billing the discussion as Canada passing the baton of the G7 presidency to France.
Carney had been prime minister for just 14 weeks when he welcomed the leaders of the world’s largest developed economies to Alberta for their annual discussion a year ago.
France took over the G7 presidency from Canada in January.
Carney will then make his first official visit to Ireland on Saturday. He’ll meet first with Martin in Dublin and attend an official dinner at Dublin Castle, then make a more personal visit to County Mayo and the town of Aughagower.
EPIC, an Irish emigration museum in Dublin, says on its website that Carney’s grandfather Robert Carney and grandmother Nora Moran were both from Aughagower. They immigrated to Canada in the early 1920s.
Irish Ambassador to Canada John Concannon told The Canadian Press that Carney will tour the village while he’s in County Mayo. He said the prime minister still has several relatives in the area.
“We’re absolutely honoured the prime minister is coming. It’s a really huge deal,” said Concannon.
Carney will meet with Connolly while in County Mayo.
The Mayo News said excitement has been building and that Carney’s visit “has been the subject of conversation everywhere from the queue at the supermarket, pub or barber’s chair.”
Ireland’s public broadcaster RTE reported that locals sent a formal invitation to Carney shortly after he became prime minister last year.
A Canadian government official said Carney and Martin are expected to discuss expanding co-operation in areas like agri-food, digital innovation, artificial intelligence, pharmaceuticals and climate.
Concannon said Ireland is a gateway to Europe for Canada. He said the two countries have deep economic and cultural connections and want to grow their trade in digital technology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
“There’s certainly an ambition for the bilateral,” he said of Carney’s meeting with Martin. “There’ll be a very detailed conversation between the Taoiseach and the prime minister and that’s really set to be a historic and special meeting.”
Ireland has become a major centre for foreign investment and international tech companies. It’s also set to assume the presidency of the Council of the European Union in July and is looking to usher in new digital policies. Ireland produced its AI strategy last winter, while Canada published its own AI plan last week.
In March, Canada and the EU launched talks on a digital trade pact to promote safety, fairness and legal certainty for businesses.
Ireland is also on the cusp of finally ratifying the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, between Canada and the European Union. The deal provisionally entered into force in 2017 but has not yet been ratified by all EU member states. While the Canadian officials would not say what they expect to happen with CETA on this trip, Concannon said the ratification is in its final stages.
Deirdre Giblin, head of the Ireland Canada Business Association, said the CETA deal is likely to be fully ratified two to three weeks after Carney’s visit.
Giblin said the bonds between Ireland and Canada are strong and the Irish people have never forgotten how Canadians welcomed those fleeing the famine in the 1800s. She said Carney also advocated for Ireland when he led Canada’s central bank to help the country recovery from a devastating financial crash.
“We credit Mark Carney with helping us then and there’s a huge debt of service we feel and gratitude for that,” she said.
While in Ireland, Carney will also meet with Irish business leaders to promote Canadian investments and highlight national interest projects, said the official.
An estimated 4.5 million Canadians have Irish ancestry — almost 15 per cent of the population.
The G7 summit will take up the final three days of this trip.
Last year’s summit was dominated by the presence of U.S. President Donald Trump, whose tariff-obsessed trade policies and war in Iran have turned the global order upside down.
Trump is expected to attend this year’s summit in France, as are the leaders of four other G7 economies — Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan. The European Union also participates in the talks. The Canadian officials said the leaders of Brazil, India, Kenya and South Korea are expected to participate as well, and additional leaders may still be confirmed.
Russia’s war in Ukraine and the conflicts in the Middle East are both on the agenda. The Iran war is a trigger issue for Trump, who has accused NATO and other long-standing allies of not doing enough to support the U.S. action there.
Carney has said the U.S. did not tell Canada in advance about its plans for the war. While he initially indicated support for the military action, he later shifted his position to say the U.S. launched the war without consulting with the United Nations and it likely violated international law.
A Canadian official said that while the G7 summit is a critical forum for global stability, this year’s summit — like last year’s — will not see a final joint communique issued that outlines areas of consensus. Instead, there will be stand-alone statements throughout on individual topics, which could include AI, online threats to children, foreign aid and economic imbalances.
Recent reports by the International Monetary Fund and France’s G7 presidency say global macroeconomic imbalances keep getting worse, and can’t be solved without China. The official said leaders are expected to talk about the future of the global economy and their discussions are likely also to cover China’s industrial overcapacity.
Carney took part in a video call involving G7 countries and China Thursday to discuss global economic imbalances.
Carney is expected to hold meetings with world leaders at the summit, though it’s still not known if he will meet with Trump.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2026.
Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press
