OTTAWA / ANKARA – October 25, 2026 – Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan launched the Canada-Türkiye Strategic Partnership during Carney’s visit last week. The partnership is the first bilateral trip to Turkey by a Canadian prime minister. It rests on four pillars: trade and investment, energy, defence and security, and people-to-people ties. The two sides have begun negotiations for a free-trade agreement. They have signed an expanded air-transport agreement. A joint statement on energy cooperation has been issued. A Canadian trade mission to Turkey is planned for 2027.
The free-trade talks are at the first round. No text has been released. The air-transport agreement is the document that has been signed. It is meant to increase flights, facilitate trade and tourism, and connect businesses. Energy is one of the commercial files. AtkinsRéalis has bid to supply Candu reactors for two planned Turkish nuclear plants. Carney has said the bid has “good chances.” No contract has been awarded. Defence cooperation is framed inside NATO and includes language on Ukraine, the South Caucasus, and the Middle East. The partnership is the formal product of the visit. The free-trade negotiations and the Candu bid are the two commercial tracks that have not produced a final agreement. The air-transport agreement is the one that has. The rest is whether the talks produce a text and whether the reactor bid advances before the next election cycle in either country.
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