In a rapidly changing world, Canada is focused on what we can control. We are building our economic strength at home and diversifying our partnerships abroad. Australia is a natural partner in this mission. We are long-standing, reliable partners with a common parliamentary system and a shared respect for democracy. We are federations backed by strong resource and agricultural economies, with ambitions to diversify and build. By working more closely together, we can create stability, security, and prosperity for our peoples.
To those ends, the Prime Minister travelled to Sydney and Canberra, Australia, this week. In Canberra, Prime Minister Carney met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, marking the first bilateral visit of a Canadian Prime Minister to Australia in nearly two decades. The leaders released a joint statement outlining new partnerships in investment, defence and security, critical minerals, energy, and artificial intelligence (AI). Prime Minister Carney also accepted the invitation to address the Australian Parliament, where he spoke about the enduring ties between Canada and Australia and the two countries’ potential to build economic growth together.
During the visit, Canada welcomed Australia into the Critical Minerals Production Alliance – an initiative launched under Canada’s G7 Presidency in 2025 to expand critical minerals production and processing capacity and diversify supply chains from mine to market. Both Canada and Australia hold vast reserves of critical minerals that are key to defence, manufacturing, and technologies, including batteries, cars, and the AI systems of the future. Closer collaboration with Australia will boost bilateral investment – creating high-paying careers in mining, harnessing clean energy opportunities, and strengthening security and defence. The leaders also launched a new Clean Energy Partnership to catalyse new trade and investment opportunities, scale-up clean energy technologies, and modernise electricity grids.
Australia is Canada’s largest defence partner in the Indo-Pacific. We are focused on growing our relationship and increasing cooperation across military exercises, procurement, and intelligence. To bolster these ties, the training of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel on the Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar (A-OTHR) system will begin in Australia in mid-2026 – enabling Canada to better detect and deter threats across the Arctic. The A-OTHR system is a key component of Canada’s North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) modernisation plan and will provide advanced early warning, enable faster detection and decision making by the CAF for airborne threats, and provide long-range surveillance to meet Canada’s domestic and continental security needs. Canada and Australia are also committed to exploring concrete mechanisms to facilitate the movement of defence equipment and personnel between our two countries, as well as removing unnecessary barriers to operational collaboration by initiating discussions on establishing a Status of Forces Agreement.
Both Canada and Australia are rapidly scaling up sovereign AI, compute capabilities, and other emerging technologies. To accelerate each other’s efforts, Prime Minister Carney and Prime Minister Albanese welcomed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on AI Safety. The agreement will enable greater collaboration between Canada and Australia’s AI safety institutes, including to share expertise.
In parallel, Canada, Australia, and India will advance a MOU under the Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovation Partnership, to formalise strengthened collaboration on the development and deployment of AI – connecting our industries, advancing trade missions, and enabling private-sector partnerships to create opportunities for our businesses, including small and medium-sized businesses and start-ups.
In Sydney, Prime Minister Carney welcomed a MOU to deepen investment cooperation between Canadian pension funds and Australian superannuation funds – removing barriers to investment and supporting nation-building projects at home. This will advance Canada’s mission to mobilise $1 trillion in total investments over the next five years. While in Australia, Prime Minister Carney met with business leaders and Australian pension fund executives who collectively manage nearly $7 trillion in capital to identify key sectors with immense investment potential. During the visit, the IFM announced their intention to invest up to $10 billion in Canada. Prime Minister Carney and Prime Minister Albanese also agreed to launch negotiations to modernise the Canada-Australia Tax Treaty. This updated treaty will facilitate increased two-way investment between Canada and Australia.
In an increasingly uncertain world, Canada is focused on what we can control. We are attracting massive investment at home, increasing partnerships with allies like Australia, and building a stronger, more independent Canadian economy.
That’s how we Build Canada Strong.
